For the entirety of this blog, I wrote under the name Gemma Gold. That was the name the world saw. My name is Michele Eisen. Now I am stepping out from behind the pen. I typed my words into a quiet screen late at night. Heart pounding. Hands shaking. Afraid that if anyone saw them, my words would be used against me. I poured myself into sentences I could not yet claim. I spoke my truths softly, carefully, behind a curtain that kept the world from touching the edges of my life. I could bleed onto the page without anyone noticing. I could tell the truth without stepping into it.
I still want to keep my website, StillTheMomma.com. This has always been the declaration for all mommas like me. We are still the momma to our children. No abuse, no court ruling, no lies can strip us of the title God Himself has given us. We stand in His truth and grace, unshaken by the storms of this life. We are, and always will be, their moms.
Although the website name will stay the same, I am now calling this page The Allegedly Unfit Mother. The name comes from the reality of what it feels like to be questioned at every turn, to have your love, your choices, and your presence scrutinized, minimized, or dismissed. This is the truth of being in that place and still trying to speak, to show up, to hold on in ways that matter even when no one else recognizes it. This is what it means to carry that identity, to write from it, to own it, and to invite other moms who have been through the same to know they are not invisible.
We are not invisible.
Here I am. Michele Eisen. Also known here as The Allegedly Unfit Mother. It is lovely to meet you.