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TWO FREE PENNIES

Introducing 'Two Free Pennies,' a weekly column from our editor

Be prepared for her two cents, offered up weekly for no charge.

Credit: Andras Vas / Unsplash.com

Be prepared for her two cents, offered up weekly for no charge.


  • Opinion

A penny may not get you too far in today’s economy, but our Editor Melissa Finley is always happy to offer her two cents for free.

If you ever followed along a long-running opinion column called “Montco Mommy,” you’re in luck. She’s back. But as being a mom is just one facet of a very full life, you will now see her work as “Two Free Pennies.” Life has marched on, and there are plenty of new stories to tell. Each week, the opinion-based column will explore a topic its author, Melissa Finley (formerly Treacy) will dive into another piece of life’s chaos.

To be clear, the pieces will be op-ed, meaning they are strictly the opinion of or experiences of one woman. They are not per se “news,” but rather the perspective of one writer’s point of view, shared for readers to understand, to think about, share a laugh on, or maybe commiserate with the life of another human.

You’ll continue to see a lot about parenting. While her children are now older teens, even considered “adults” by the state of Pennsylvania, there are still plenty of struggles, hurdles, questions, and concerns that are all wrapped up in that wild world of being a mom.

If you followed Montco Mommy, you may recall there were plenty of columns about babies, toddlerhood, and young children. And, as so many new parents ask, no. It doesn’t get “easier.” It gets… different. You aren’t changing diapers and wiping noses, but you’re lending car keys and talking about jobs. You no longer look for binkies and blankets, and instead have teens asking for more money to go out again tonight.

The challenges change. But they’re still there, and always will be. But something about your children growing up, moving up, moving on, and moving out to begin lives of their own, forces Mom to begin to look at who she is, outside of being a “mom.” Being divorced opens up another wild aspect to life, this woman never thought she’d be juggling at her age.

So, if you’re looking for a laugh, wondering what another’s perspective is, or maybe are struggling through the same challenges, we hope you find some entertainment, education, or at least a hearty giggle following along with the stories.

If you have a question or topic you’d like to hear her perspective on (she’s no Dear Abby, but she’ll give you her two cents for free), feel free to email [email protected].

To read more of her previous works, check out:

You can expect to see the column, weekly, on the Access Global Media network of news sources.

author

Melissa S. Finley

Melissa is a 27-year veteran journalist who has worked for a wide variety of publications over her enjoyable career. A summa cum laude graduate of Penn State University’s College of Communications (We are!) with a degree in journalism, Finley is a single mother to two teens, and her "baby" a chi named The Mighty Quinn. She enjoys bringing news to readers far and wide on a variety of topics.

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