HELLO, MY DEAR -

My name is Rael Eckenroed - Coach Rael: From Teenage mother to ………

27 years ago, I left my then husband and took my three daughters with me to start life as a single parent. Currently I am a wife, mother, grandmother, professor, and nurse practitioner. How did I get here? My life is made up of starting over many times. A snapshot;

* Pregnant at 17

* First child at 18

* Customary marriage at 18

* Second child at 19

* Third child at 24

* Separated at 28

* Remarried at 36

* Fourth child at 38

* Grandmother at 44

* Been married for 21byears and loving life.

• As a professional nurse

• ADN at 43 years old

• RN-BSN at 45 years old

• MSN - FNP at 50 years old

Getting pregnant at 17 and marriage at a young age was a bad idea. I thought people fell in love and lived happily ever after.

The tell-tale signs were there right after marriage, but I was too young and naïve to know better. After 10 years of marriage, at 28, I left with my three children.

I did not expect the hate, isolation, and negativity from the people I knew.

Our society was not meant for single women and taking children after separation was not taken kindly in our Luo community. I was told to take the children back or leave them with my mom in the village, for me to be available to remarry. I was setting a bad example for my sisters as the firstborn girl and I had lost my honour as a woman. To regain it I had to either go back to my husband or find a new one. Who would marry me with grown children? I was called names.

I questioned myself. I was afraid of the unknown future. I was tired, lost, lonely, unhappy, and felt like a total failure - Loser.

I never wanted to go back. Going back was not an option. I had already left and went back several times - not this time.

If you are going through a separation, break-up, or divorce, you too have strength within you to survive this period. Hang in there. You may feel broken, worthless, alone, ashamed, and doubtful; know that this is not the end. There is something out there for you. God has plans for you too.

My mission is to help women start over after divorce or separation from their spouse, so they can move forward to realize their full potential, take control of their lives and their happiness, and learn to love again.

From January 2024 I have been studying to become a nurse coach. I want to be certified and recognized by our board of nursing so that I can help people in my profession. I am a starting over coach, a certified life coach. I want to be a certified nurse coach. I want to help new nurses start over in the nursing profession. I want to help nurses when they transfer to a new job, when they are experiencing burnout, when they feel like they want to give up because of all the responsibilities they have to bear at work and at home. I want to help my students in their day to day struggles so that they can pass the nursing exams and N-CLEX and help them to reduce the stress of this period.

𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝, 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙐𝙈𝘼𝙉 𝘽𝙀𝙄𝙉𝙂, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 - 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚.