Notes

Debbie developed an interest for life transition strategies while working as a health care professional and raising a family. She observed that some people found life transitions challenging, while others glided through difficult changes effortlessly. Debbie saw an opportunity to help others and thus began her passion for life transition strategies. While raising a family, she founded a support network for mothers with infants and young children as a means to ease the transitions of parenthood and increase opportunities for new parents to become part of a community and learn the latest information about parenting and child development.

After experiencing an empty nest herself and the mixed emotions that accompany this transition, Debbie felt it an important step to create educational programming and a supportive community for those preparing for and entering the empty nest phase of their lives; hence the idea for Embrace Change was born. Just as it takes time to adjust to raising a family, it takes time for parents to assimilate to the empty nest. Debbie prefers to think of this natural phase of life as an opportunity for exploration, enrichment, discovery and fun.

Of the many positions and titles that Betsy has held over the past 25 years, the role she values most is being a parent. In addition to her job as a freelance copyeditor, she enjoyed volunteering in the Parent Associations of each school that her children attended. When her children graduated from high school and college and then moved out of state, she felt as though she had been forced into an unwelcome retirement. Without children as her primary focus, it was time to explore new opportunities, rekindle interests, and find a new purpose. Although this is a daunting and ongoing task, it is something that we all must tackle. As Alexander Graham Bell noted, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Embrace Change is a group that can help each of us find the strength to venture across the threshold of the open door.

Thank You

We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all those you have been instrumental in the development of our programing and those who have participated in our pilot programs.