Finding Ourselves

With Sean's permission on what would have been our 16-year wedding anniversary, I'd like to tell you a bit about the past almost year we have had. Having grown together and becoming parents we've always wanted one thing to remain the same. We've always wanted one another to be happy. We want our children to be happy. They're very happy. Mostly because structure hasn't changed and stability is important. We love them differently, but fiercly and they have everything they could ever want/need. We began to drift apart. Life became routine and frankly, sad. We had always had somewhat open communication, but never really shared how we felt or why. We finally broke down and discussed our marriage, the people we've become, and what we had surpressed for quite some time. It was a beautiful, sad, emotional, and happy moment for us. We had been cheerleaders for one another for so long that we didn't realize we needed to be happy with who we were/are. After speaking for what felt like days, we decided that we deserved to be happy. We deserve to live life authentically. There were mistakes, there were discussions, and there was heartbreak. However, there was always love and our kids are at the forefront of that love. Divorce is never a process that sounds like a nice, smooth, and positive thing. The world has turned it into such a negative thing. And let's be honest, sometimes it really is a negative experience for so many reasons. Not this time though. We chose to do things differently. We chose to be happy for one another and watch eachother grow in who we were always meant to be. It's made us better people and better parents. I think it's funny how we tend to ignore and bury the parts of us we feel don't fit into the norm. What is the norm anyway? Does it change from person to person? What if we challenged everything we were told and just let love lead? What if we loved ourselves more because of it? Here's to one of my best friends, the father of our children.... My heart is happy seeing you happy as your authentic self. Glad we chose to be who we were always meant to be. Here's to the years, the tears, and the facing our fears!