Rebel in REDBOOK Magazine - April 2006

#4 - REDBOOK Magazine!

Last week, in the tax anxiety, and in the final preparations for the 40th Birthday SURPRISE Party, I thought I could feel the Shingles (condition caused by stress) coming back...and then the REDBOOK thing -- that nearly put me over.

Last year, in March, life was very different. We were in the midst of tree troubles, and...well, let's not even go there (you can look it up in the archives, if you are catching up). We were unhappy where we were, in affluent Buckhead, and it was the beginning of the end (happily, we were able to move in July)-- On March 11, 2006, our world was rocked by violence in Atlanta with the infamous Courthouse Shootings. During all of that, I had an interview with a freelance writer for REDBOOK Magazine, for a feature she was writing about overcoming life's challenges and bouncing back.

More than a year later; last week, actually -- the week before the Big Birthday -- the feature came out in the April 2006 issue (with Tyra Banks on the cover): "How to SURVIVE ANYTHING -- life lessons from women who've been there and back" (page 148).

In a profile piece featuring five women, mine is the sad, but possibly inspiring, story of losing it all, financially, when we walked away from the technology company my husband had built with his partner (later forced out by vulture capitalist investors) from "Two Guys' Software" in our basement to a multimillion dollar corporation with 300 employees in offices all over the world...

We are featured on page 150 -- a nice picture of the family (Zach has gone back to his short hair: "Mom, I look like a girl!"):

"Sherri Caldwell learned what matters most. She survived...near-bankruptcy."

It's a strange thing, to be featured in a national women's magazine. It's very cool, because part of my bounce back story is The Rebel Housewife, and the book is mentioned prominently in the article, which is terrific. But the exposure, after all we've been through, and the evil we've faced, is a bit disconcerting in other ways. There is also always so much more to the story, and writers get to pick and choose, highlight the detail and slant to fit their piece, space requirements, editing...I know how that is!

Yes, that's us in the feature. That's a part of our story, going back to 2002, but there's so much more to it...maybe someday...