Interview with Shari

• I met Shari a few years ago when we first bought our house.  I have this crazy spouse who is super friendly.  He's one of these dying breeds who think neighbors should know each other.  Like, first and last names!  Like, may I borrow a cup of sugar or have your kidney? kind of know each other!  He's just nutty like that.  I'm not so friendly, but I adore this trait in him.  He pushes me to have friends.  Some of my very best friends are because he forced me to quit being a loner.  So, when we moved in and Shari moved in behind us, we shared this funky driveway.  This driveway is one of the reasons we couldn't sell our house later, but I always liked the goofiness of it.  Anyway, I was perfectly content to just wave occasionally to New Neighbor and call it good but Mr Friendly said nope, let's take over a bottle of wine and welcome her to the neighborhood and be FRIENDS. Gasp.  Can't we just smile when we drive by each other and return each other's mail when it's delivered to the wrong address like lots of other neighbors? I pleaded.  No?  So we went over.  And knocked.  And introduced ourselves.  I think at first she thought we were a little weird.  Or maybe selling something.  I knew she was a single mom already just from not having seen a man around; just her and her three teenagers.  I assumed she was divorced like every other single mom I knew.  Turns out she had just lost her husband a couple months earlier to cancer.  Her kids were super cute.  We babysat their hermit crabs.  Her teenage son chased down our dog, who had delusions of being a greyhound, at least a couple times a month.  Her girls babysat my girls. We gabbed in the hot tub after long days at work and raising kids.  And we became friends.  So here she is - one of the most inspiring people I know:
  
  
  1. Introduce us to your family please!
  My name is Shari , I am wife to Jason Coltharp and mother to 3 wonderful grown children, Kyle,22, Katie, 20, and Tessa,17. I am also a new Grandma to a beautiful 4 month old, Laycee.
  2. You're a new gramma, can you put into words what that feels like? How is being a mom different than being a gramma?
  Being a Grandma leaves me speechless  I love it!! I love that I can spoil her and then give her back.
  3. You lost your husband to cancer a few years ago. Did you ever feel like in those dark days that you could find love again?
  I lost my husband of 11 years in 2004 and I truly never did think I would find another man who would love me as wholey as he did. For 5 years I cried but then God brought an old friend back into my life
  4. Introduce us to your new husband!
  Jason and I worked together 17 years ago and back then he was just a kid I could talk to . Little did I know he thought of me a lot more than just a friend. He has been wonderful at being patient with me in a way I can't even be patient with myself. It is so nice to be able to share of myself and once again be loved
  5. What's something - as a mom with grown and almost grown kids - you would tell a young mom?
  If I had to give a young mother advice it would be to be true to what you know you are capable of and love yourself first so that your children can see and feel what love really is.
  6. If you could go back 20 years and meet yourself, what would you tell her?
  If I went back 20 years to give myself advice I would tell me to have faith. It took me til I was 35 to have it.
  7. You're stranded on a desert island: what book, movie, person, food, would you take?
  If I were stranded on an island I would have to figure out a way to have peanut butter and chocolate,A lifetime supply of red wine, as far as a book or movie I think I would replace the 2 and take a journal The only person I would like with me would be God. He could keep me sane better than anyone I know.
  8. Favorite tv show?
   I think for my favorite show I would have to say CSI.
  9. Biggest pet peeve?
  My biggest pet peeve would have to be people telling others that they can't do something. Everyone can do something and should be aloud to at least try!
  10. Favorite memory as a child?
  My favorite memory as a child would have to be just camping with my dad.
  11. Favorite memory as an adult?
   I am still making memories as an adult but becoming a Grandma on Easter morning was a pretty darn good one for me 
  12. What inspires you?
  What inspires me??? Everything does. Even the mistakes I make. I am just thankful to wake up in the morning and to face whatever God has in store for me. I may not be perfect but I am perfectly made.
  
  
  
  
  
  
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