Hi, I’m Kerry. I live in metro Detroit, Michigan, I’m hanging onto my thirties by a thread, and I have a sweet husband and a sweet son.
I spent the last fifteen years working for big companies in jobs related to writing and communications. I’m so lucky I got to spend my budding career in bustling downtown Detroit, doing fast-paced assignments, working with and learning from diverse professionals from all walks of life. I’ll never forget my first corporate job, walking in wearing my brand new skirt suit and heels, getting my photo taken for my ID badge, and taking the elevator up to my new office (okay, my new cubicle). I treasured my time as a corporate employee, and I gained life experience you just can’t get anywhere else. I even met my husband at the office way back when, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
There’s a phrase that comes from the tarot called “Tower Moments.” Stick with me for a sec. It’s based on the Tower card, which depicts a tower on a mountaintop being struck by lightning and destroyed. It’s burning, it’s crumbling, people are literally falling to their deaths out the windows. It’s a mess. A Tower Moment is when your life is suddenly falling apart all around you. It’s a shocking change where the rug is being pulled out from underneath you. It’s the moment when your world turns upside down.
Last summer, I had a Tower Moment when my comfortable, snug as a bug, life-anchoring job at a Fortune 100 company was eliminated. Yep, my boss’s boss’s boss called me on a Monday morning, while I was on vacation, packing up my car with my husband and two-year-old to drive home from the beach. I was stunned, and just like that, the tower crumbled. I still have big, fiery feelings about it.
But losing my job gave me a chance to slow down and take care of some things. I could spend time with my baby, learn some new skills, and for the first time, really choose what to do.
So I centered my focus on my health. With time and energy to devote to it, I was able to go through the long process of deciding and preparing to have bariatric surgery.
As I write this, I’m eleven days post-op from my vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG), also known as gastric sleeve. I’m doing really well and learning so much, not only about weight loss and the mind-body connection, but about life after weight loss surgery as a toddler mom, a wife, and an individual with her own hobbies, goals and priorities.
Every day, I’m learning more and more, and I feel in my heart that I can’t not share it. I hope I can help other women, moms, and people who can relate to my experiences, who might be going through their own Tower Moment, who are trying to figure out what budget meals to put on the dinner table for their family that they too can eat, or who are nervously trying to make a decision about bariatric surgery for themselves.
That’s what I hope to share in this space. Experience and life learnings about motherhood, marriage, weight loss surgery, loving our bodies, kid-friendly bariatric-friendly family meals, raising a healthy child, self care, mental health, physical wellness, and life before, leading up to, and after bariatric surgery. Is there anything you’d like to read about in particular? Please share a comment.
Even after eleven days, I feel different. I’m shocked that I have more energy already. My brain just feels better, like I can focus on life’s possibilities instead of life’s perpetual suffering (ha). I’m just optimistic. It’s funny. It’s new.
I look forward to connecting with other people with similar (and different!) experiences and points of view. Please comment to engage with me and share your thoughts and views on anything and everything. Ask me a question or teach me something new. Tell me about your own Tower Moment.
I can’t wait to share with each other as we embrace change and grow in self-love, self-acceptance, courage and connection.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for dropping by. I hope you’ll come back soon!