Article May 23, 2011 Issue

Filling a father’s shoes

A single mom’s journey into fathering her son—with the help of prayer and 35 dads!

Kim Shippey with contributions from Julia Espey

Julia Espey is a former NASA researcher who once helped launch rockets and tested prototype instruments on aircraft, flying regularly with test pilots. She then developed a million-dollar direct sales organization, and now spends every moment of her “non-existent” spare time painting in oils. Her artworks have sold in galleries in Washington, DC; Texas; and New York City.

Julia lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Lance, and her ten-year-old son, Jackson. But only six years ago her situation was different. She was a single mom battling to cope with a mountain of responsibilities. One day she was walking with Jackson in a local park when she looked down at him and realized she had to be both mother and father for him. And she didn’t know how to be a father! It was kind of ironic, she admits. She knew how to guide a 30-ton aircraft, but didn’t know how to guide her 30-pound son.

In a recent conversation with the Sentinel’s senior writer, Kim Shippey, Julia explained what happened next.