Dani & Family
In 2010, I opened several Etsy shops selling wall decals. This new peel and stick decal media had just hit the market, and I was one of a handful of entrepreneurs selling it on Etsy. Prior to selling on Etsy, I spent 15 years of my career overseeing Communications and Development responsibilities in the venue of Child Welfare. It was both heartbreaking and rewarding. When my son was born, I secured a flexible schedule that allotted me to work a 4-day schedule. Five years later, my daughter was born.
That is when I began the journey of selling on Etsy. My desire to be home with both my children far outweighed desire for success in my career. Little did I know the vital importance that leap of faith and decision was that I made in 2010.
In 2015, my husband of 22 years unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack. Our children were 13 and 8 years old. He was only 53 years old. My son spent his 14th birthday at his father's wake. It was traumatic. In an instance our lives and world were shattered.
That decision in 2010 to work from home and sell on Etsy was a blessing. It enabled me to be with my children. Not only was I now the sole caregiver, but I carried both my grief and the grief of my children. It has been a heavy, tough road to walk, but one foot in front of the other, we as a family traveled that road. Along the way we experienced not only pain, but peace and happiness as we walked through it all.
Today, 2025, our son is 23 years old. He is a Firefighter/EMT/Paramedic and serves in the National Guard. He choose his path in his father's memory to help others. Our daughter is a 17 year old senior in high school graduating this year. She has chosen to attend college and pursue a BSN/RN. She too desires to follow in her brother's path and in her father's memory to help others.
I remarried in 2022. He is a great man and loves not only me but my children.
The path ahead will always include a deep sorrow, but we see and feel not only the stars and moon, but the sunshine too. Our faith is deeply rooted in Jesus Christ.
Thank you for reading my story.
God Bless You and Yours.
Dani & family
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Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
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