13 Comments

• 1. Amy Nuttall&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 7:47 am

  I always enjoy reading your emails. We are the same age & I can relate in somethings. This one however I really can. My Mom & biological Father divorced when I was young. He did make appearances throughout my life off & on, but just for like a week or so. Then I wouldnt hear from him again for 7-8 years. I have a soon to be 14 yr old daughter, he doesnt even know. I havent seen or heard from him in almost 20 years. I truly do not know if he is alive or dead. I do know that I have at least a sister & brother. I also had abandonment issues. If even your own parent doesnt want you, then why would anyone else. They are suppose to love you no matter what. It was when I saw him that last time. I was able to put away those issues. Along with the thought that my life would somehow been better with him in my life. I have a very blessed life. Growing up there were some issues, but I always had people there that loved me & never left me.
  Thanks for your emails. Also, thanks for your products. However, my husband doesnt thank you..lol. Amy

• 2. Sharon Cichon&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 7:56 am

  Years ago on Valentines Day, I was at the airport picking up my fiance. As the people streamed out of the plane, I looked up into the face of my ex-husband. Right behind him was my future husband. They had been sitting next to each other all the way from Seattle to Connecticut.

  I never saw my ex-husband again, but thought it was extra freaky strange that the one time I ran into him was on what would have been our 5th wedding anniversary (Feb 14th) and that he shared a flight with my husband to be.

  Looking back now…the only coincidence I draw is that perhaps it was an omen…they both are ex’s. For me, third time was the charm. They both were different but very much the same in punishing you by withdrawing affection as means of feeling powerful and controlling.

  The only other really weird thing is 10 yrs ago, I was shopping with my son and he asked if he could go say hello to his dad’s ex-girlfriend who he saw in the store…I said yes, and in a few moments, she came over to introduce herself and before I knew it, 2 hrs had gone by…we had so much in common ( not our dislike for whats his name) but just a genuine woman connection..she is one of my best and dearest friends. Unless someone asks us how we met, my marriage and her relationship with the same man is a forgotten detail..

• 3. Linda M. Bush&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 8:30 am

  I always felt that I would be losing one of my children. I had this feeling for years. When I would think about it, I always thought it would be my one son who took the “fast” lane in life. I saw the detectives coming to my house. It was only a feeling. Little did I know, that God was preparing me for a significant tragedy in my life. In October, 2007 I was awakened at 2:00am by the security guard at my complex, he telephoned to tell me, there were two detectives that had come to see me. As I prepared to open my door, I wondered which of my five children was hurt or gone. I was sure there was an accident of some kind. I lost my son, Tom. He was the “good” son, not the one I thought it would be. Everyone loved Tom. There were over 200 people that came to his funeral, most of them co-workers and friends. He never caused me any heartache. I thanked my son, Jimmy, because the week before, we all were at his house to celebrate my grandson’s birthday. That was the last time I saw Tom. I was so grateful for that party. I really believe that God has given women the great gift of intuition. All women should trust their inner feelings. Everyone was amazed at my reaction to all this and I responded that God had prepared me for this for a long time.

• 4. Emily Ann&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 9:50 am

  I sm crying as I write this. I can’t belive this strong reaction. I thought I had worked through this a couple years ago. But reading the previous blogs triggered deep emotions. So I thought I’d write and it would help. Mine is a different story. I had both parents until they both died six months apart in 1991. But when I was little (I’m 65) my mother would threaten to send me to an orphanage that was a few miles down the road if I didn’t behave. One time the mailman came and I thought it was the orphanage people coming to get me. She told me about what I would eat, bread and water, and the kind of bed I would sleep in. My mother’s personality was selfish,l angry, and closed. I later found out from my aunt when my mother was dying that she didn’t feel wanted. That explains alot. Anyway, I’m just back from a two week vacation to my home area, no relatives around anymore, and I do experience some “stuff” or bad memories from my childhood. But both my husband and I had the best time we’ve ever had on vacation. So that’s what I’m going to concentrate on now. Today I’m going to scrapbook, Yeah!

• 5. Terri&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 10:04 am

  Julie, I don’t think I’ve ever left a message on your blog before but I have read them! I am sitting here in my kitchen this morning reading your entry & thinking “how weird is this”? I was abandoned by both of my parents. I met my Mother for the first time when I was about 14. She has come in and out of my life a few times since then, I am now 53. The most recent time being within the last month. She is currently in my hometown to visit a friend of hers! We’re supposed to meet for lunch today but it’s 10:00 a.m. & I haven’t heard from her yet. Typical, so much build up and anxiety and it looks like another let down.
  When I was 24 yrs old I had a part time job working in a deli. A gentlemen placed an order for fried chicken for which we were famous for! I told him I would page him when his order was ready & when he gave me his name…my jaw dropped! It was my Father! I knew his name because it was on my birth certificate. We met a few times & talked but never maintained a relationship. He died almost 2 yrs ago & I hadn’t seen him in 23 yrs.
  I know what you mean Julie about fighting that feeling that you’re never good enough – I’ve done that my whole life too. But I KNOW I AM GOOD ENOUGH and SO ARE YOU! We are parents to wonderful children who we love and adore and can never understand how anyone could walk away & leave them. Enough of the rambling! haha! Isn’t it amazing what you can learn about people by selling scrapbook supplies!! Thanks Julie!!

• 6. Dawn Lavy&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 1:36 pm

  After I came home wiht my infant son in 1997- there was letter left on my doorstep. In this letter a woman in my apartment building was telling me she was my half sister! We had been living in the same building for over 2 years! I never knew who she was but she knew who I was. She was from my father’s first marriage. I was so emotional after reading that and just having given birth that I was a mess for a whole day. She said she understood if I didn’t want to get to know her since I had so much going on in my life plus the reaction my mother would have. My father left her and her brother and after my mom divorced him for adultery he left my sister and I and never paid a dime in support. He wan’t a good man. We email today and are on Facebook. I did end up talking ot my father before he died in 2009. Guess things came full circle.

• 7. Kay&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 1:46 pm

  Concerning double sided papers – It is so much nicer to see the second side as either a turned up corner or as an overlay – than having the second side on another line or not pictured at all

• 8. Debbie Helton&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 2:25 pm

  Crazy that you blogged this today!! Just yesterday my ex husband and I were talking and he said….You are never going to believe this, it is such a small world. He told me that he was talking to someone about the college we went to (24 years ago and in North Carolina) (my ex played soccer there) and how he used to fight with the soccer coach, Ian Mc___. He told me that no lie the next day he got a call from one of his assistants about an email they received from an Ian Mc___ Jr about wanting to see the LA Galaxy play (my ex husband is the president of the LA Galaxy…in LA). My ex has not spoken to Ian Mc___ since he left college and Ian Mc___ jr was only 6 at the time! I guess one of our old college friends saw the dad in NC and told him about my ex’s position at LA and Ian Jr now lives out in CA so they told him to get in contact with my ex. But how weird is it that the email came literally one day after he was talking to someone about the guy, he had not spoken the coaches name since he left the school 24 years ago!!!! CRAZY!!!

• 9. Rachael&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 3:59 pm

  Hi Julie

  This post hit me in two places today! I love that your posts are so relevant to so many and also very honest.

  The first part of your post resonated with me in that I found out at 26 years old (at my brothers wedding) that the man I thought was my father, was not. This only came to light when my then husband saw my brothers (well he was considered my half brother then) Father and said “Are you sure he’s not your Dad too? You sure look alike.” It dawned on me that he was right and I went and asked my mother if there was any chance my brothers father was also my father. Nonchalantly she replied “Probably.”

  After many more discussions it was ascertained that he is most certainly my Father and so I tried to make contact with him. He apparently has always known I am his and yet he made no effort to return to my emails. Although I am mostly ok with it I do wonder what kind of man wouldn’t care on discovering he has a child who wants to make contact.

  The other part of your post that hit home was in regards to magic not math. 6 months ago my dearly loved mother in law passed away from cancer and immediately we started having odd events that we, perhaps whimsically, put down to her influence from ahigh. I am in the process of completely changing careers and was in the book store looking for books on NLP. I couldn’t find them for looking even though I knew for sure they had been there when I had visited before. I left the store, went to another and still couldnt’ find the books so put it down to them being sold. On the way past the first store I decided to drop back in and take another look on some of the other shelves. Still nothing. I went back to the proper place for these books and just as I turned to leave (a bit frustrated) I heard books drop off the shelf behind me. I turned around and went to pick them up and would you believe they were 3 books on NLP! I guess they were always there but I hadn’t seen them AT ALL. In my mind my MIL wants me to make this change too and had to literally throw the books at my feet to make sure I found what I needed to help me do it.

• 10. Penny Boatright&hellip  |  September 29th, 2010 at 9:57 pm

  Julie,

  Take it from a mom that raised a daughter by myself until I married when she was 9. It isn’t that you weren’t good enough for your father, he wasn’t good enough for you. God sent you the right one, the one thats loved you and raised you.

  I have come to understand that a mothers love and a fathers are completely different things. We share a love of our children when we carry them and give them life that I don’t think a man will ever relate to.

  My daughter has tried to contact her father and a sister she discovered but neither will respond, my heart breaks for her. It’s their loss, my gain….

  If you really want to find him still, contact the reunion committee for the year he graduated, they usually know where everyone is. Try classmates.com.

  Good Luck

  Penny

• 11. Patty&hellip  |  September 30th, 2010 at 4:30 am

  Hi Julie,

  My heart breaks for you, just as it does my son. I was a teenage mother and his father had nothing to do with him his entire life. It’s truly his father’s loss, because just like you, my son is such a wonderful person and with everyone who meets him, they just love him. There is a reason why your father was not in your life, you may never know why that is, but consider it a blessing. I never told my son how badly his father treated me (physical, mental and verbal abuse), I had no self-esteem. It’s been 27 years and I am thankful that my son had no contact with his biological father because I don’t think that he would have turned out to be the most kind, sensative and funny person that he is now. Thankfully, my husband assumed that roll along with my family of helping to raise my son into the strong man he is today. As a Captain in the Army, he is in charge of troops, leading and inspiring, just like you. You may think of your site as just a business, but it’s more than that, when I get the notice that I have an ‘email’ from you, I look forward to not only that newest items you have for sale, but I stop and ALWAYS read your note before I open the link. You encourage, inspire, motivate, teach, and are a true blessing to all the you connect with. It’s your father’s loss and everyone else’s gain. Thank you for always being a bright spot in my week-keep up the great job and congrats on your anniversary too, you deserve only the best! Big hugs, Patty

• 12. Carol Ford&hellip  |  September 30th, 2010 at 2:23 pm

  My view of things is that when your father walked away from you, he walked away from the best part of himself. It’s his loss not yours. You started a great family and a successful business. Your attracting new men into your life. You didn’t need your biological father.

  And by the way, the man your mother married and was your surogate father is truly your father. Sometimes children are born to the wrong people and the right person comes along just for you.

• 13. Nancy Cooper&hellip  |  October 21st, 2010 at 4:44 pm

  Creative Memories has an awesome photo storage program, called memory manager 3.0 and it is really good, and you can crop, black out and all sorts of things.
  It sorts by date taken, then you can put into folders also.
  really a great product.
  nancy