“I was married before, to a man that needed to be rescued and saved. I realized in marriage that I’m no lifeguard. I could only rescue myself and my beautiful kids, and I did just that. I divorced. My in-laws, the first time you welcomed all of us into your homes I watched, mesmerized, as my new husband stood next to your family, enjoying each other’s company. It was a simple moment, but it took my breath away.”
‘To my ex-husband’s family, you didn’t have to continue loving me, my new husband, and child. But you do.’: Woman pens emotional letter to ‘compassionate’ in-laws, ‘you’ve turned an unfortunate circumstance into something beautiful’
‘This is my second wedding dress. My second bouquet. I’m not ashamed. Truth is, divorce gave me my life back.’: Woman gets ‘second chance at love,’ admits second wedding is ‘more of a marriage than the first’
“I don’t talk about my first wedding often. Never actually. After my divorce, there were months I struggled to get out of bed. There was pain and suffering. Rage. So much rage. This was my second wedding dress, but this heart? It’s renewed. This is my redeptiom.”
‘My marriage reared it’s ugly head. I was at a fork in the road. I could leave and save myself heartbreak, or I could stay.’: Woman finds ‘strength’ to divorce abusive husband, admits there’s ‘beauty in vulnerability’
“I never planned on writing my story. While I was more fearful of the future than I care to admit, I remember leaving the courthouse the day I filed for divorce feeling like I could breathe for the first time in years. It was the feeling of freedom. For years, I allowed the world to wash over me, resigned to the lies I’d been told about who I was, who I wasn’t, and who I could never be. On the hard days, I have to remind myself to call these thoughts what they are: lies.”
‘To the girl in love with an addict, his failures are not your failures. His demons are not your demons.’: Mom comes to terms with husband’s addiction, advises addict spouses to ‘hang in there’
“To the girl in love with an addict, I saw you sit in your car alone at halftime and breakdown. I see you and your fake smile. Don’t worry, they all still believe you’re fine. You’ve gotten so good at crying hard, getting it all out fast, and getting back to your seat before anyone even realizes you’re gone. Please don’t let him make you think his addiction is your fault. This has nothing to do with you at all. You deserve better than this.”
‘Receipts for bars, motels showed up on MY credit card. I demanded he show me his texts.’: Woman gets huge wake-up call after husband leaves for ‘work’
“‘You’re not going to like it.’ Shaking and my heart pounding, I scrolled through comments. ‘I miss you.’ ‘What are you wearing?’ ‘When do I get to see you again?’ I don’t know how it started. I never questioned my decision. I never considered staying to work it out.”
‘Here we go.’ We started the process of reversing his vasectomy. My husband had no intention of having more children.’: Couple shares adventure of trying-to-conceive after doctor says they have ‘no answers’
“I told Jeremy, ‘We need to talk.’ I was so nervous my voice trembled. I told him, ‘A few days ago I took a pregnancy test. It was positive.’ He gasped and immediately smiled. I continued, ‘but after getting my blood work repeated, my levels are not increasing. I started bleeding on the drive down.’ His smile quickly turned to confusion. ‘So you weren’t pregnant?’ He couldn’t understand how something could begin and end all so quickly.”
‘It’s definitely too soon,’ I thought. ‘No one would approve.’ I met K at the wrong time. At 26 years old, I had already been married 6 years, parented 7 children and miscarried 2 babies.’
“My phone vibrates in the middle of my text. It’s an unsaved number. I just stared at my phone. ALL I could think about was the tall handsome dude at the store, whom I didn’t even catch the name of.”
‘I didn’t feel safe in my own home. It took 3 years for me to find the courage to ask for a divorce. I developed stomach ulcers from all the stress. The end was inevitable.’
“I had experienced years of him ‘bending’ the truth, of him telling me I was ‘too much,’ trying to diagnose me with different types of mental illness. Little did I know, there was more to come. I found reserves I never knew I had, but that’s what moms do. We do everything possible to make sure our children don’t get hurt.”
‘We thought we had reached an agreement. My daughter would live with her dad. But I had no idea how hard they would make it. It was insane.’
“I felt strongly prompted to let her live with her dad. At first I ignored it. That was the worst thing I could ever imagine, and I would NEVER let it happen. Now she’s gone.”
‘I choked out, ‘So, their dad and I are no longer living together.’ 8 months into fostering two of the girls, and 2 months after saying ‘yes!’ to adopting, my children’s father and I separated.’
“We had 5 kids and had just celebrated 6 years of marriage. Our entire life crashed, the walls built with facades and fantasies. I was secretly dying inside. It was silent, painful. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be taking family photos without a husband, my children’s father.”
