I settled into my new life in bits and pieces. At first staying with my mother; a month later with my friend LeeAnn and her husband; after a few months, I moved into an apartment of my own.
   In fits and starts, I tried to adapt to this new life as a single mother, as an individual, and not doing a very good job of it. I reconnected with a few of the friends I had that had stayed behind in Quincy. But I had changed so dramatically that the close ties I had once had with them, were now strained and stilted. And in my case, the phrase, "it's not you, it's me" was quite literally true.
   During this time I worked at several different fast food places, enrolled in college, and tried to build a life for my sons, all the while groping endlessl...

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