{Down with Detroit}
Hello!! My name is Nicole and I couldn’t be more excited to join Detroit Moms Blog! With the exception of a three-year fling with Chicago, Michigan has been my life-long love (though the past few winters have bred more of a love-hate relationship!). I graduated from the University of Michigan in 2003, majoring in English with a sub-concentration in creative writing. I stayed for a social-justice based MAC (Masters and Certification) program, in which I completed a year of student teaching at Mumford High School in Detroit. Beyond foundations and friendships that have shaped much of my life, UofM also gave me my amazing husband and best friend, John.
I had never really brought many boys home to meet Mom and Dad, so when I first told my parents about John– and the Texas native that he is– my dad said: “He knows the ground rule, right? He will relocate.”
{My Life}
I moved to Chicago after graduation and taught British Literature on the South Side while John attended law school, but coming back home was always the plan. I’m Chaldean, and even the 45 minute drive to Ann Arbor was far beyond the typical Chaldean radius. In 2007, we moved back to Michigan and eventually bought a home in Bloomfield Township. My cousin, fellow DMB writer Lauren Myers, bought a home in my neighborhood and we joke that we are REAL Chaldeans now that we live around the block from family.
In 2011, I gave birth to my son, Christian Joseph; six months later, my father lost his seven year battle to cancer. He relapsed just before Christian was born and fought for his life in the same hospital tower that housed my little man’s entrance to this world. When my mom asked him why he held on, he pointed to the pictures of his new grandson — whose middle name is his — that my sister had taped across from his hospital bed.
When my father was first diagnosed, I hadn’t even expected him to walk me down the aisle. I am eternally grateful that I got that and so much more. A year later, however, we were caught completely off-guard when my mother — a lifelong non-smoker– was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer. We lost her in October 2013.
My father- and sister-in-law flew in for her funeral and surrounded me with the love I needed most then. My husband lost his mother to cancer in 2006, and so the intimate knowledge they had with this kind of loss made me all the more grateful that they would walk through it with us again.
About a week after John’s mom’s birthday, we found out we were pregnant again. Right before Mother’s Day, we found out we were having a girl, and our Carolena Rosario was born the day after my mom’s birthday. Though she’ll only know them as her angels, she is named for her grandmothers.
{Babies and Beyond}
I taught full-time at a private school in the Detroit suburbs but moved to a part-time position shortly after my mom was diagnosed. The experiences with my dad were still so raw, I decided I could no longer grade by the dim light of hospital machines. While this means that we have to constantly re-evaluate our budget, I am so thankful to have more days to spend with these little miracles whose limitless energy, boundless smiles, and endless curiosities have carried me into life after loss.
So, I spend half my week with big kids and the other half with my Littles. And I absolutely love it. I am passionate about teaching and creating — whether it is watching Arthur Miller’s dramas come to life in a teenager’s mind or honing my improv skills telling stories with my pre-schooler. I love finding new adventures in our great state, or re-experiencing old memories through my children’s fresh eyes. I get way more excited than I should about movies, television, and food. And while we’re always on the look-out for an awesome new brunch spot, we’ve also started to grow a passion for healthy eating and home-cooking. I have an amazing group of friends and family who either live here or still call Michigan home. Through my greatest happiness and deepest sadness, other people’s love and stories have been so important to me; I am so excited to start sharing my own!
Welcome to DMB, Nicole! What a beautiful family you have.
[…] hot depending on how fast your Littles can take down a donut!} So buckle up and follow Heather and Nicole on a DMB Tour of Donut Shops in and around Detroit! We’ll share with you our favorites as well as […]