Diary July 2025
For most of my life, my identity as a mother was most important to me. My children are spread out in age, so I was able to be a mother over a longer period of time than a lot of my friends. Because of this, my grandchildren range in age from 30 to 2 years of age; again, giving me a long time to be a grandparent. For quite a bit of this time, I was a single parent, so I always felt I needed to be clear about my priorities and actions. Going along with being a mother, my job was very important to me because I needed to keep that in place for the financial and emotional security of my children. For most of my life, my focus was on my kids and work. As time went by, I felt I achieved more of a career than I would have predicted had I not had misfortune in my personal life.
I have felt my identity as a mother, wife, single parent, professional are all separated from Muncie as a city. I could have been dropped anywhere (where there was university employment) and lived this life. I’ve never particularly cared about Muncie’s history or investing in its future. My friends are connected to church or specific volunteer organizations or interest groups. If I were to move, I think I’d seek out similar areas in which to become involved. One realization is that my Muncie friends are more involved in church and community activities than my Indianapolis friends.
While at Ball State as a student or living and working at Ball State for the past 40 years, I’ve felt the area around Ball State was where I spent my time and a neutral to negative connection to the rest of Muncie. I think President Mearns has tried harder than any other BSU president to build bridges between the two groups. Helping the Afghan refugees integrate was a point of pride for our community. I am still connected to three of the families by helping the women and children learn literacy skills.
2.I have enjoyed writing diaries. The directives have proven to be helpful. There were a couple of days that just happened to hit when I was traveling or out of town so those weren’t typical days. The time spent thinking about life in Muncie was useful as I do appreciate my friends and the activities we do together. I still feel connected to Ball State and specific organizations. I am aware of how our Afghan new neighbors are fitting in but do not feel any closer to the other side of Muncie. I’ve always felt rather critical about the racial/poverty divide in Muncie, but I have to wonder if this is the same way I’d feel living in another city.