“When I asked myself how I envisioned my life a year ago, I never dreamt it’d be this perfect. It’s been a year since Kyle moved out and about that long I’ve been agonizing over these hedges.
I was quoted anywhere from $600 to $2500 to trim them and I’m just pregnant enough to not feel comfortable up on a ladder. I bought a chainsaw and hedge trimmer and fully planned on doing it. I was wrong.
On Sunday, my ‘ex’ Kyle (read: best friend) showed up to do the job, in the midday heat, on his one day off, out of the kindness of his heart.
As he began working, we all realized the hedges had already been half trimmed by someone already. I was working all weekend. So, when I came home, I hadn’t seen the already-completed work yet.
Come to find out, his mom, Stacy, did the work by herself – also in the heat – while I was gone the days before. Incredible!
My boyfriend Ken and his cousin/bestie Jacob helped Kyle. By noon, there was an entire crew trimming, raking, and disposing of the old, humongous monster hedge.
The guys played with the absolutely BEAMING children, made music together, and rocked the hell out of the hedge-maintenance beyond anything I could ever have asked for.
It was so cool to see the high school gang back together. These guys were my lunch dates for almost four years. Every lunch. We hung out, ate, talked about everything from music to girls to what-have-you.
I listened to them play guitar and looked on with awe. Every day, I got to hang with the best friends. I got to relive that on Sunday. It was beautiful.
This is my life. I have not one but four incredible adults who helped alleviate a huge burden from my shoulders. My kids have some of the kindest, most loving humans raising them, and I have the best family/friends to thank for constantly having jobs well-done. I’m so grateful it hurts.
I hope friends of mine going through a split (or any changing, stressful family dynamics) find this kind of peace and support some day. I lucked out by marrying into a family of gems and I will always call them family.
We all made an effort to choose love and kindness. It isn’t difficult. It isn’t ‘work.’ We just love one another. I promise you can, too.
Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who helped. Stacy has always been an incredible support and created a man who leads the way for his children to follow in his steps in doing the same.
Thank you, Kyle, for getting heat stroke to once again save me. Thank you, Ken and Jake, for helping do the dirty, difficult clean up and being the best kid entertainers around.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Miranda Silliman of Chico, CA and originally appeared here. You can follow her journey on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Submit your own story here, and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.
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