Meridith Byrne

Single motherhood forced me into a reality I didn’t fully understand. I left something I couldn’t stay in, but I wasn’t prepared for what came next—the financial pressure, the constant problem-solving, the lack of backup. Now I’m starting a new job and facing another transition, still unsure, still learning. I don’t feel ready, but I’m moving forward anyway.

I’ve been hibernating. Like the bear who wakes in March to find the forest still icy and unforgiving, I will return to my cave after testing the air. Meanwhile: Single parenting teenagers and young adults. Trying to find a job that doesn’t leave me scrambling for spare change at the end of the pay period. Juggling bills and debts and creditors and overdue notices. Shoveling mountains upon mountains of snow. The lumps, bumps, aches, and indignities of getting older. A car that may or may not...

In moments of war, outrage, and nonstop headlines, it’s worth returning to first principles. A functioning democracy depends on the well-being of its people: food, shelter, healthcare, and learning. Anything that pulls us away from securing those basics for everyone is a distraction.