Meet the Willow Girls | Michelle Long
Hi! I’m Michelle Long, a mom of two beautiful boys ages 2 and 22. The age gap sounds crazy, right? It is a bit crazy… here is my story.
I became a mom at the age of 20 and thought that I had it all figured out. I bought a house, secured a full-time job turned career and had a beautiful blue-eyed baby boy with the sweetest personality.
Although I struggled as a young mom trying to balance it all, I always made ends meet and made things work. I didn’t always know the best thing to do but I always tried to do my best.
My sweet little boy played soccer, loved riding his bike, being outdoors, learning and playing with his friends. He was a silly boy that couldn’t sit still, which lead to so many phone calls home from school…
Before I knew it, my sweet little boy had turned into a teenager who hated rules. I had to make a lot of difficult decisions during this period of my life (and difficult is putting it lightly) to keep him safe and [in my opinion] to save his life.
These hard decisions and rough times seemed to change me as a person. I found myself sleeping less, laughing less, isolating myself, even beating myself up and questioning every parenting decision I ever made.
During this time, I met [my soon to be husband] Pat. Pat saw the struggles I was having as a mom and some challenges I was facing in my career. Around the same time, he was also facing some difficulties. So together we decided to offer a fresh start for all of us by moving to the beach which is what led me to Lewes.
Since I moved to Lewes, great things have happened to me. I’ve been able to live out my dream of working in a creative environment and owning my own business. I spend my days merchandising two of the stores I own as well as refinishing furniture, and I love it!
Meanwhile, life had another blessing in store for me – I became a second chance mommy. Pat and I now have a rambunctious, beautiful and funny little toddler.
Being a new mom at the age of 40 has made me yearn for all of the things I missed out on when I was a young, first time mom. Due to a lack of resources (time & money) the first time around, I couldn’t do some of the fun bonding activities that I now have the opportunity to do.
I became so passionate about motherhood and mother/child bonding experiences that I made the decision to open a 3rd store – a children’s boutique that also has a space for mommy and me classes. This is what brought me to open Willow Marie & Co., and it has empowered me to share my story.
I’m excited to see this dream unfold and to meet other moms who also want to have the fun bonding experiences with their little ones.
I lost a bit of myself during those hard times but am working on becoming everything I was. Watch out as Shelly gets her groove back and becomes as funny, witty, clear minded and as fun as ever.
I’m a wife and a mom as well as a survivor. After all that I’ve been through, I know that I am strong, hard-working, determined and have the perseverance to make anything work.
If you have any questions, just ask!
