No one thought we would be where we are now. Our relationship started with two people who couldn't speak the same language. Literally. Ilia spoke Spanish and I spoke English. Talk about communication difficulties...we had to use Google Translate exclusively for the first 6 months of our relationship. Now, if anyone has ever used a translator for more than a few words you realize that things don't quite "translate" the way you think they do.  There is an 11 year age difference. Yes, 11 years.  Marriage wasn't in this man's vocabulary and having more children wasn't in mine (I had 4 already.) Culture. By far, this was the most challenging aspect for us to work through. Ilia is from Cuba, and I was born in Upstate, New York. Men can get a bad rap for being difficult and stuck in their ways, but this girl can hang with any man in the difficult department. I've been called stubborn and difficult more times than I can count.  We stayed the course, and 5 year...

The best thing you can do right now is center yourself. This can be difficult for some people as they are being faced with so much uncertainty, and there is so much happening globally that is uncontrollable. The only thing you have control over is yourself, yet most are scrambling to control circumstances that they cannot and WILL NOT be able to control. You have control over your attitude, your thoughts and your beliefs/belief systems. This is the time to check in with yourself and ask if those things are aligned with CREATING A LIFE WORTH LIVING.  Your health. You can control a large portion of this. Nutrition, sunlight, breathing, movement, water, healthy relationships, smiling...these are all within your control. Nutrition can get tricky as some are faced with financial distress. You will need to be creative and look for ways to incorporate as much nutritional value in your food as possible.  Hang in there, baby steps are better than no steps. ...