Did you know:
According to the APA, about 40-50% of married couples in the United States divorce.
In a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau every two years, there are approximately 13.7 million single parents in the United States today, responsible for raising 22 million children.
And according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, approximately 7-8% of the population will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
LISTEN to today's conversation with Jane Binns!
LISTEN to today's conversation with Jane Binns!
Author and relationship/dating expert Jane Binns reckons with these three issues in the forthcoming Fall memoir titled BROKEN WHOLE (on sale November 13; She Writes Press), an unflinching portrayal of dating after divorce as a single parent.
Brief book summary
When she was just shy of her 34th birthday, fifty-one-year-old writing instructor and clairvoyant Jane Binns found herself separated from her husband of 12 years, sharing custody of their 2-year-old son Shane. From meditation class and speed dating to singles dances and church groups, Binns meets a cast of characters over nearly two decades of dating. Throughout the book, Binns recounts the strain of trying to understand and rescue her on-again, off-again lover Steve, an unemployed Vietnam war veteran struggling with PTSD – the one man she connects with the most, but who is emotionally unavailable. It isn’t until the death of her father, shortly followed by the death of her ex-husband, to jar her from her toxic cycle: “Who was I if I wasn’t in a relationship? Would I be okay if I wasn’t in one?”
Some possible talking points:
- Worst breakup stories?
- Most romantic gestures?
- Red flags to consider?
- Promising signs for the long term?
- Surprising places to meet people?
- What to share (and what not to share) on a first date
- How to evaluate online dating profiles
- What to consider when dating with a major age gap
- Life as a single parent: explaining divorce to a young child, introducing them to a new partner, etc.
- Self-care and self-acceptance: are you ready to date?
- Finding a network of support: join a group sharing the same experience, individual counseling, true friends and close family, etc.
ABOUT JANE BINNS
Jane grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She attended Eastern Michigan University from 1985 to 1989 and received a Bachelor’s in Science, piano performance. She married in 1990 and then moved to Syracuse University in 1993 to attend the Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation program at SU. She received her Master’s of Science in Education in 1995. She published “Gender Stereotyped Computer Clip-Art Images as an Implicit Influence in Instructional Message Design” with Rob Branch, Ed.D. in the International Visual Literacy Association Journal in 1995. In 1997, she moved to Denver, CO to attend the Naropa University for their MFA program in prose. In 1998, she was awarded the Jack Kerouac Award for Prose. She was the Managing Editor of Bombay Gin with Lisa Birman from 1998 – 1999. Her son was born three weeks before she graduated with her MFA in 1999. In 2001, she separated from her husband, and in 2002, they divorced, sharing equal custody of their son. In 2004, she self-published a chapbook of short-short stories, Pocket Change through Eye of the Tiger Press.
Jane is an English Composition Instructor at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, CO, and has worked in online learning assisting faculty, students, and staff with the online platform since 2006.
