Surviving Death Divorce and Dementia without losing your mind

The three “D’s,” Death, Divorce and Dementia. Surviving death, divorce and dementia without losing your mind is not a topic I ever expected to be writing about. When I started my blog over 7 years ago, it was a creative outlet to share what life was like living with four generations of family under one roof, the home renovation projects my dad, grandfather and I were doing, my DIY interior design tips on a budget and bits and pieces of my life. It was a hobby to keep friends and family updated which quickly turned into something so much more.

Our blog has always been “G” rated for lack of a better term and the only dirty laundry ever aired are the funny goofy things that happen, most of which were due to my grandfather’s old school mentality and the battles my grandparents would have on a regular basis that would leave me in tears from laughter. For those of you who know him personally, you know that living with him for as long as we did was a miracle. My family along with my parents have been multigenerational living for almost 11 years and my grandparents were with us for 8 of them. We are unique in that we don’t live together for financial reasons (although it does help) but we actually like being together under one roof .

Behind the scenes we are no different than any other family or married couple. We have issues just like the rest of you.

2018 was probably one of the worst years I have ever had in my life. My grandmother passed away in late 2017, my grandfather slipped away into the cruel world of Dementia leaving us to mourn the man we once knew and lastly, my marriage ended. The last 14 months have been a roller coaster of emotions to say the least. It’s like the earth opened up and swallowed my life as I knew it.

I can remember last year after we purchased our new home, sitting in my living room and saying to myself, “what the hell happened and how did I end up here!?” Have you ever done that? Wondered how things could change so quickly?  You may remember my parents sold my childhood home last February and we all purchased our new home below less than a half mile down the street from our old house. If you are new here, you can see our new home series to catch up.

Surviving Divorce – what happened

I know many of you are wondering, “Jess, what happened?”

For those of you who are/have been married with kids or no kids, you know that relationships are hard work and that it takes two people willing to put in consistent effort. Relationships are not easy whether you are married not.  We decided that parting as friends in an effort to successfully co-parent was the best scenario possible moving forward.

Fast Forward to September 2020 – I got engaged to the best man ever!!! Read more …. 

Surviving death, divorce and dementia

The blog will continue to be G rated and you will never find negativity here about my marriage. In fact, I will continue to keep my personal life as it relates to relationships, private.  I will however be sharing how I dealt with my emotions of my marriage ending, the sudden changes with my grandparents, tips and tricks to wrap your mind around moving forward (living a balanced lifestyle) along with the importance of personal growth. 

The last 7 years I have been passionate about sharing my unique living arrangement, teaching others how to DIY renovate, create a designer friendly home on a budget and now, I will expand on that sharing what I have learned about how your health plays a huge role in your mindset and ability to persevere. I am considering starting a new blog but may keep everything here on Four Generations One Roof. I am still up in the air on that.

Updated March 2019 – Home Projects inspired to move onward and upward!:  The Lady Loft project is in full swing. What do you do when you are in your 40’s and your marriage ends? I decided ripping apart more rooms and renovating was a must! Updated: My DIY mint green master bedroom budget makeover is finally complete!

I have so many great things to share with you about growth, my new outlook and some amazing new opportunities. It’s a pretty crazy thing when your life shifts dramatically. By embracing the change and having an open mind, I have met some amazing new people and developed some great friendships.  On another note, be sure to follow me on Instagram (stories) and my personal Facebook page (if you friend me, send me a note you are a blog reader) where I have been sharing real life – raw moments and day to day “stuff!”