Starting Over at Any Age

Starting Over at Any Age: Reinventing Yourself Is the Final Power Move

There’s something beautifully terrifying about starting over. It’s a mix of grief, grit, and grace…a shedding of old layers to make room for something braver and to be honest,  it is terrifying! I used to think reinvention was for people in crisis or those who had no other choice. But now, I realize it's the strongest decision you can make when something in your soul says, "This isn’t it anymore."

I was adopted into a loving home when I was just four years old. Even then, I learned that beginnings and endings don’t always come wrapped in neat packages. Sometimes, they come from broken places. But real committed, unconditional love can heal more than most people realize. My adoptive family gave me stability, protection, and a foundation that shaped who I am today.

But life didn’t stop testing me after that.

I’ve felt the sting of betrayal through divorce, the weight of rebuilding a life I didn’t plan for, and the ache of raising children through seasons of grief, loss and growth. I’ve had to face hard truths, hold it all together when I was falling apart inside, and smile through situations that hurt more than I ever let on.

People often say to me, “You’ve been through so much.” And they’re not completely wrong. But I don’t carry that as a badge of brokenness, I carry it as evidence of strength. Every experience, every heartbreak, every loss, every moment of uncertainty, has shaped how I mother, how I love, and even how I wake up in the morning.

A Life You Don’t Plan For

There are few things that shift your identity like losing the person you built your life with. My world didn’t just break, it completely changed shape.  Suddenly, I wasn’t just navigating grief. I was re-learning who I was without a partner. I had to make decisions alone, carry the weight of parenting alone, and figure out how to keep living in a world that no longer looked like the one we dreamed of together.

I’m a mom to three incredible humans, Tayden (25), Tye (23), and Shea (20). Each of them is finding their way in the world, growing into who they are with grace, resilience, and a little fire of their own. Their father, Tanner, and I were no longer together when he passed, but he was a wonderful dad, and his love for our children never wavered. His example lives on in them every single day through Tayden’s loyalty, Tye’s quiet depth, and Shea’s bold heart.

Rebuilding from the Inside Out

There came a point where I realized I had spent so much of my life surviving, protecting, and providing for others, that I had almost forgotten how to choose me.   Not in a selfish way, but in a way that I deserve happiness too.

Starting over didn’t come easy. It meant learning to trust myself again. It meant believing that new chapters are still possible, even when the old ones ended in pain. It meant showing my kids what it looks like to stand back up, not because you have to, but because you’re worth it.

Letting My Kids See Me Change

My kids have had a front-row seat to my evolution. They’ve seen the highs, the heartbreaks, and everything in between. They know what it looks like to watch their mom hold it all together when it would’ve been easier to fall apart. And now, they’re seeing something just as important, they’re watching me choose me.

I want Tayden, Tye, and Shea to see that starting over isn’t something to be ashamed of but it’s something to be proud of. That reinvention is a sign of strength, not failure. That it's never too late to become more of who you truly are.

I hope they see that I didn’t give up on life, love, or joy. That even after loss and disappointment, I kept showing up. I kept believing in better days. I kept becoming more.

And through it all, I hope they’re learning that healing doesn’t always look like having it all figured out, sometimes, it looks like standing back up, softer and stronger than before.

Reinvention Is the Real Power Move

Starting over isn’t about wiping the slate clean; it’s about stepping into who you were always so supposed to be. It’s giving yourself permission to evolve. 

If you're standing at the edge of a new beginning wondering if it's too late, or if you've been through too much, I want to tell you, it’s not and you haven’t. You’re not behind.

And that, my friend, is the ultimate power move.

Love Always, Camie