“He took me out. We drank too much. I woke up the next morning in shock. I didn’t remember consenting to anything. We found out I was pregnant and I was terrified. Everything inside me was saying to detach from my son’s father. Instead, we did ‘the right thing’ and got married.”
‘She’s going to die soon. I’m just dating her out of pity.’ He had a girlfriend in another state. He was a horrible man.’: Single mom finds courage to leave abusive husband, new fiancé, to be ‘strong, thriving’ for 4-year-old son
‘You’re my wife which means you are my property now.’ My wedding day was when I realized I made a huge mistake.’: Woman overcomes rape, unwanted pregnancy to ultimately become ‘blessed’ as a mom
“I look at my newborn son and see the face of my abuser. I know it’s not my son’s fault. He is a blessing. A second chance to raise a man, instead of an abuser. I know someday he’ll ask about his father. I don’t know what I’m going to say yet.”
‘I pulled into his school parking lot. ‘Mama, aren’t you FORGETTING something?’ There was terror in his voice. That’s when I noticed it. I’ve never face-palmed so hard in my life.’
“When I went to unstrap him and pick him up, he had a concerned look on his face. He crossed his arms and stared back at me. Call? Check. Clothes? Check. Teeth? Check. ‘What? What is it?,’ I asked. It was too late now. There was no turning back.”
‘I gave birth to a beautiful Chinese baby in which I share zero genes with. HE DIDN’T GET THE MEMO.’
“I now had a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and I was newly divorced. ‘How were you able to give up the baby?’ I felt like I signed my life away. They needed to make sure I wasn’t going to go crazy.”
‘On my birthday, my husband drank too much. He started calling me his ‘future ex-wife’ in front of all my friends. Something felt off, but I ignored my gut. It was the worst mistake of my life.’
“He’d been acting strangely and kept telling me, ‘You deserve better.’ That was the first clue. I had no idea what sparked this until the next morning when I jumped out of bed with my heart in my throat. Before I knew it, a ‘Take my Ex’s Stuff Yard Sale’ was in full effect.”
‘I cried when I told you. I knew it was my fault. You looked at me like you wanted to say you loved me, one last time. A ping hit my chest. I was careful with you.’
“I trusted you. I did everything right. I’m finally letting go. When you find that girl you’re in love with, tell her she’s the luckiest girl in the world. Please take better care of her than you did me.”
‘We found out we were pregnant at 17. We were scared. Soon after, we were having a second. I am so grateful for my ex. I never thought I would say those words. But here I am. So grateful for my ex.’
“We had the ‘million dollar’ family. A boy, a girl, and two high school sweethearts who got married and made it through teen pregnancy. But then, we started to lose the ‘spark.'”
‘I have a good friend who was with her husband from age 18. She found out that, over a year ago, he cheated on her.’
“As soon as I walked in I was asked, ‘Why are you friends with Sarah? She’s gone wild now, she’s got all these tattoos, she dumps her kids so she can go out partying. I heard she’s got another boyfriend already! Those poor kids!’ Because she’s moved on, she was called a sl*t.”
‘I live with my husband, my ex-husband, his girlfriend and our 6 children. We threw our parenting plan out the window.’: Woman says she wouldn’t change their unconventional blended family ‘for the world’
“As weird as this is to most people, we all live together in one house with our 6 kids. If someone would have told me 3 years ago that I’d be living with my husband, ex-husband, his girlfriend and her two children, I’d have laughed at them! I know this sounds crazy, but our children are happy, we are happy.”
‘There is always one day that is simply emotionally confusing: The Ex-Anniversary Date.’
“The first time my ex-anniversary rolled around the calendar I tried to block it out. That lasted about 10 minutes. Suddenly, thoughts and feelings about my divorce started to bubble up. I didn’t know how to feel. I couldn’t keep ignoring my past.”
