I gave up on my career and myself and turned my attention to our future. His friends told him I was the marrying kind and we got engaged. He got promoted. The mirror told me I was old enough. But at 26, I had stopped growing.

I could not handle the mediocrity any longer. I was 38 years old and life with my husband felt stagnant; 10 years together without moving forward, no house, no kids, and debt was high.

What people don’t tell you when you get married is what happens to your self-confidence after the marriage ends. You feel unwanted.

I’ll never forget hearing my name called out with such joy by a man I had only met once before, or how it felt to be seen by someone who, incredibly, had no sight at all. I didn't know at that point about the superpowers of the blind. Being recognized simply by the sound of my voice felt like sorcery.

Quarantine will lead to bigger families or broken families. Here is a third story. Quarantine will lead to stronger families with deeper bonds, closer connections, slower paces, and renewed love.

My tears were tears of mourning. Mourning the end of 8 years of marriage, 13 years of a relationship, and ALL that comes with that. Mourning the end of my married self, the loss of my identity as I had known it for what felt like a lifetime.

I am more than a wife. More than a mother. There are pieces of me that have been sitting dormant in my mind for years, itching to work their way out and become part of me. Now that they are emerging, the hard work of figuring out who I am and how to make the pieces of me fit together is just beginning.

I went out to a bar with a couple of my girlfriends from work. I lived a very sheltered life in my youth, so going to a bar for the first time at 24 was an eye-opening experience. There were people everywhere. The music, the energy, and feeling seen... it was intoxicating. I spent most of my life trying to hide from people, but I found myself enjoying the attention I was receiving. It was like electricity crackling every time I felt eyes on me.

No one gets married with the expectation of getting divorced some day in the future. When you promise to love and cherish someone for the rest of your life, you don’t picture what it will be like to be alone again. And there’s no manual on how to put your life back together when “forever” is cut short.

I lived with my partner before getting married, and I had marriage 101 covered. Good communication + intimacy + teamwork + quality time = a bulletproof marriage. While my success formula had been a reliable tool pre-marriage, something changed. I began wondering if I would make it to the new year as a married woman.

I used to think I didn’t believe in marriage, but what I didn’t believe in was other people's idea of marriage. Hearing married people refer to their spouse as the ‘ball and chain,’ and getting the ever so helpful marriage advice of, “Don’t,” didn’t have me feeling incredibly confident about the whole thing.

How to reclaim your identity after your marriage ends.