Anne Evans-Cazier

My husband, Cal, and I bring a rare and powerful combination of life experiences and strengths to our life together and the book we co-authored, The Resiliency Toolkit: A Busy Parent’s Guide to Raising Happy, Confident, Successful Children. In 2005, recently divorced after a long marriage, I left the security of my job, moved across the country, bought an old house on a beautiful tree lined street in Salt Lake City, Utah, and put down new roots. I opened my own therapy practice and deepened my quest to learn all I can about healthy relationships and use that knowledge to enrich my life and the lives of others.

I broke the old rules of waiting for the guy to make the first move and messaged Cal because his internet dating profile made me laugh. We met for an early dinner at a busy restaurant and started sharing stories. I swear only a few minutes had passed when I looked around and the room was empty, a lone waiter wiping the table next to us, drifting closer, hoping we would take the hint.

I’ve had a long career working with families, from Head Start preschoolers in the 1970s to low income seniors and everything in between. One of my favorite careers was being a stay-at-home mom with my three daughters. Mind you, that doesn’t mean that every minute was joyful and fulfilling. There were plenty of moments of sheer boredom, tedious chores, tears and clenched fists, but, for me, these were worth the other moments of laughter, sweet smiles, and shared adventures.

After the girls grew up, I went to graduate school and became a licensed clinical social worker. Since 1999, I have been a therapist helping people heal their lives and their relationships. I keep a quote from Maya Angelou in my office where I can see it at all times, “I did what I knew best, and when I knew better, I did better.” That sums up my greatest belief that we can learn from our experiences and move forward; that is what being resilient means.

Cal and I continue to share stories and create new ones. We renovated a lovely old brick home (on the same tree lined street!) with leaded windows and warm mahogany archways so we would have plenty of room welcome friends and neighbors and most of all our combined five children and their families.