Heather Lunsford
Bio
I am a 50 something year old mother of grown children with stage 4 breast cancer. I have been told I should write a book about my life. I am probably never going to do that, but I do want to record some of my stories, so here we go.
Stories (28)
Filter by community
The Time I Went Mother Shopping
I was in the sixth grade, 11 years old, My mom had left when I was about 5 and my parents had a custody battle that lasted about 5 years. So I had been living happily with my Dad and my Brother for about 2 years. I was vaguely aware that a woman from Minnesota had been writing my father letters. I knew she had 9 kids and she lived in a suburb of the Twin Cities. We knew a family that lived in the Twin Cities and one of their boys was trying to impress one of my step mother's daughters so he gave her my dad's address and said he was looking for a good wife, What I didn't know was that my dad had written back to her, and had gotten brave and called her.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Families
Deep Dark Secrets
I am going to share my families deepest darkest secret with you. I doubt that my family is alone in keeping secrets. I know I probably have not told my kids the absolute truth about some parts of my history. I suppose there are varying levels of keeping secrets. Some things are probably none of your kids business, those are not secrets just things you keep to yourself. This secret is not like that. I think it might have been my right to know the information all along, and knowing it may have made a difference in my life.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Humans
I Am A Sioux Person
I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, near some fairly large Sioux reservations. It was not at all uncommon to see Native people when we went to the big city of Rapid to buy groceries or go to a movie. I was well aware of the racism towards the Native people. when you would pass them in the store people would make rude comments both to them and about them. In my family we were taught that all humans deserve dignity and respect. My parents did not participate in the cruel game. My father taught me that there is something you can learn from every person you meet because every one of them knows something you don't so be quiet and listen to everyone.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Humans
I Could Have Died, A Lot
I am either a very fortunate person or a very unfortunate person, depending on how you look at it. I choose to go with fortunate. From time to time my kids make me list all the times I could have died. This is not going to be a complete list but here are some of the ways I could have died.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Humans
It Was My Fault, Kinda
If the after school specials of my 1970's childhood are to be believed kids often blame themselves for their parents divorce, or at least they did then. I would hope that today parents would help their kids not feel that way. My parents divorced when I was 6 and I never felt that way. At six years old I knew that I was not the one who cheated on my dad with the guy that sold us bananas. I knew I was not the one that moved out and refused to come home. I knew that I didn't take everything out of the house, and I do mean everything, that is maybe another story. At any rate I never blamed anyone but my mom. Even when I reconnected with her in my 20's and she told me that it was entirely because of us 4 kids that she left, I knew that she had been the grown up and we were the kids. if there was a problem she was the one in charge not us. For the record I also knew that it was a pretty crappy thing to tell your child, even that much later.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Confessions
My Dad's Terrible Cooking Showed His Love
My mom left us for the man who managed the produce department in our local grocery store when I was 5, but that is another story. As an afterthought, and because her friends told her about child support she got custody of me, after about 5 years of some intense custody battle I won and got to live with my dad. By then my two oldest siblings had moved out and it was just me and my brother who is 5 years older than me and my dad. To say that my dad was a bad cook is being generous.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Families
Best Reunion Of My Life
I had a hard time picking one minute with one pet. I am an animal lover and I have almost always had a pet. At 50 that adds up to a lot of really great moments. After thinking about it for a couple days I think I have picked one as maybe the most meaningful moment with any of my pets.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Petlife
How I Live With Cancer
First things first. If dear reader you are reading this because you or a loved one have been diagnosed with cancer, I'm sorry and I wish you well. Second if you are looking for advice about treatment options or advice on managing side effects this is not that story. I am not qualified to give that advice. These are just some thoughts I have after six years on this journey.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Psyche
Meet Your New Stepfather
The grown woman stood in the hallway of the hospital. She had just called her boss and said she would not be back today, and she had called her husband to tell him what was going on, he was leaving work and coming straight to the hospital. She had called her kids to let the two oldest ones that were doing high school classes online know her and their daddy would be late so they would have to look after their younger brothers when they got off the school bus. Last she had called her little brother and told him to come as soon as he could. He was on his way with his girlfriend, with traffic this time of day no one would be here for hours. After all that she just needed to take a breath before she went back in the room, it was going to be a really long day.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Families
The Infamous Nap
The grown up woman sat at her birth mother's dining room table with her birth mother and her mother's neighbor. She had not come here to see her mother. She came to see her little brother and her step father. Seeing her mother was the price she paid to see them. They were out in the back yard playing with her two small children and her husband was loading up the van so they could head for home.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Families
Things I Never Knew. Top Story - August 2022.
My mothers side of the family has always been a bit of a mystery for me, for a lot of reasons. One of the big reasons was divorce, both my parents divorce and my grandparents divorce. And if I'm honest my mother complicated things. She left our family when I was 5, then decided she wanted sympathy and child support so that is easier if you have at least one of your 4 children. I was the easy target being the youngest, a 5 year custody battle ensued that eventually ended in an airport with her saying "I never wanted you anyway". This is the very short version, it is actually what I usually write about, mostly telling some stories for my kids but you are welcome to check them out if you want.
By Heather Lunsford3 years ago in Families
