“That—it turns out—was the slap in the face I needed. I was a victim of domestic violence. After all, he was a pastor and he never laid a hand on me.”
‘I love you, Mommy. I love you. MOMMY!’ She interrupted her daddy’s beratements. He was a pastor and he ‘never’ laid a hand on me.’: Domestic abuse survivor urges ‘every soul has the power to fight’
‘I left my husband. This wasn’t the man I married at 24. In the emotional turmoil, we got pregnant again.’: Divorcee urges ‘your future is so much bigger than current circumstance’
“I accidentally found out about his secret relationship when inquiring about our wills. Dating someone behind my back is singlehandedly the best gift he’s ever given me. I’m not the person I was 6 months ago.”
‘I saw a message from a woman I didn’t know. My husband’s breath caught. I was already pregnant.’: After infidelity, single mom learns to thrive with medically complex son
“I watched as they wheeled his small body out of the room, shattered I hadn’t even been able to touch my baby. Suddenly, I had to provide for myself and my son. Motherhood already looked nothing like I had expected.”
‘We held hands all the way to the courtroom and tearfully told the judge we wanted a divorce.’: Mom finds new strength in co-parenting and blended family
“Things between the seven of us, however, have followed more the natural progression of your average blended family. Meaning we have been to hell and back. Thrice.”
‘This man, alone and smiling, set up a home office with the tide coming in. ‘Why would he do that? He can’t stay there indefinitely.’: Divorcee thanks ‘mystery man’ for teaching life lesson, ‘It all matters’
“And then I checked myself. This mystery man on the beach reminded me it all counts, it all matters.”
‘How could someone do that?’ I was forced to become a single mom after a friend saw my husband with a married woman I knew.’: Woman marries dream man after divorce, ‘He is proof everything happens for a reason!’
“I wrote a list of things down I wanted in a man and circled the list in prayer. Two months after I finally stopped fighting for my old life, I met Ryan. ‘If you want to date me, you have to date my daughter.’ I was tough. I pushed back. I shared the good, the bad, the ugly. Without question, without a pause, without a doubt, he chose me. And he chose my daughter, too.”
‘Days after my divorce, an old childhood friend sent a friend request. It was thrilling. The universe, in all her wisdom, had plans for me.’: Woman marries ‘slice of Heaven on Earth’ after abusive relationships
“I married at 20. I would dutifully serve him only to beg, ‘Please come home.’ His answer was no. He had party plans with celebrities. I was never on his radar. After losing two babies, he emotionally abandoned me. It was the beginning of the end. But the universe, in all her wisdom, had other plans for me. It was our time.”
‘I put my husband on the backburner. Sex became a chore. We were roommates who co-parented. Our marriage lost its spark.’: Woman candidly shares lessons she learned from divorce
“Every time he touched me, I cringed. I was so busy and obsessed with being a first-time mom, my son came first in every situation. We stopped going on dates, sex was non-existent. He sat me down and told me his needs. I brushed it off. After all, I’d just birthed a newborn! The last thing I wanted to do was have sex. Time went on and his needs went unfulfilled. Eventually, we became strangers who lived together.”
‘It’s been 6 months since my husband and I filed for divorce. I pass off my kids to him every other week, for the entire week.’: Woman claims divorce has made her a ‘better’ mom, ‘I’ve learned to cherish each moment’
“The first time I dropped my daughter off at ballet for her father to pick her up after her class, I remember bawling my eyes out in the car, regretting my decision to divorce. I came home to a big, empty house and sat on the couch, just wailing. As a mother, I’m programmed to tend to my children, but without them, what was I to do with my days? Divorce has forced me to step up as a mother. I have no other choice.”
‘I invited my husband’s ex-wife to my wedding. In our family, we’re not ‘half’ or ‘step.’ We’re just family.’: Mom and stepmom come together to peacefully co-parent after feud, ‘women should always support each other’
“As I was falling in love with him and his daughter, he and his wife were getting a divorce. We were both young, immature, and jealous. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Hurtful words were thrown around for years. One day, we decided to meet up and talk. ‘Can you meet me at the coffee shop?’ That was the day two women came together in vulnerability.”
