I am 57 years old and I was born in 1957. In 1987 I left my first husband, the father of my first three children, and two years later, when I was 32, I entered into recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction. I also went back to school, earning a BA, then an MA, and then a Ph.D. in Sociology. I left Northern California in 1999, when I was 42, for my first "real" job (12 years of waiting tables sort of counts) in Southern Illinois down by the Shawnee National Forest and the Big Muddy. There I met the love of my life and in 2001, when I was 44, our son Elias Divine (13) was born. When he was three, we adopted newborn Corey Benjamin Nelson (9). Two and a half years ago we packed up the kids and the dogs and moved to West Texas and on October 24, 2014, we adopted Sierra Alexis (9) and her little sister Ava Marina (6). This makes ten children between us. We are starting to get the hang of it. I have published a couple of books and won a couple of awards, and the most important thing is learning how to take care of myself and my family and friends. Like the Dalai Lama said, my religion is kindness.