Looking in the Mirror
week 13 I married into a family with only one son (my husband) and three daughters. It was intimidating. Not only was I navigating a new marriage relationship, I was also clumsily trying to find my place within a tight group of women that have spent the majority of their lives in already. It often felt like there was no room for me. I was never fully embraced, nor fully shunned. I was ‘meh’. Or at least that is how it felt. For about 15 years. It’s been a rough go…but I’ve learned a few things. First, I had to look in the mirror. Unknowingly, I carried the expectation that I would seamlessly be integrated into this family with all the heavy lifting done by my mother and sisters-in-law. But when that wasn’t my experience, I felt hurt and distanced myself even more. Second, watch out for toxic thoughts. Functioning out of a place of pain, I felt it easier to vilify those that I perceived as the culprits. It was not pretty. In Harper & Olsen’s book, "Creating H
