August 2022, Vol. 02, Issue No. 03
Car Line
Bring the Stories Home
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Letter from the Editor
Dear Ocala,
It’s been a full summer of camps, beach trips, family vacations, and bored kids. That means it’s nearly time for kids to return to school. We decided to dedicate this issue’s theme to the ones who wait in the car line five days a week, shuffle schedules and careers, and figure out ways to support their children’s emotional status in and out of school.
I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: I am not a parent, but I have the greatest respect and admiration for the hard work and dedication it takes to be one. Raising a tiny human to eventually transform into a functioning adult has to be one of the most difficult jobs, and I think it’s easy for people to forget that, especially if they are not a parent.
Each of the parents I sat down with this month have such incredible love for their children, and each of them has had to navigate life in a different way. Julie Duncan (page 14) juggled a brand new business, while Joy Zedler (page 16) had to learn how to raise children by using trauma-informed care. Meagan Gumpert (page 11) is a traveling mom and is giving her children a healthy love for travel, too.
In our feature story, Kim Fannucci (page 28) went from a six-figure job to struggling to keep a roof over her children’s heads to a well-respected multi-business owner. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t smitten with all of these moms’ grit and savvy.
Finally, we round out the issue with some incredible stories in our other departments: from Debbie Littlefield’s discovery of hypnosis (page 8) to Cayla Van der Walt’s journey to the Paralympics in Tokyo (page 19) to Kaitlyn Butler’s passion for food (page 33). You can also learn how to take better first-day-of-school pics with advice from Brett Goldin (page 23), discover more about leadership from Dr. Manal Fakhoury (page 25), learn about the Appleton’s first Composer in Residence (page 39), and dive into the Artist Q&As with the August artists for Couch Sessions 2022 series (page 37).
I hope you enjoy this issue and find inspiration in the stories.
Most Sincerely,
Lisa Anderson
