I'm excited about the future again.
When I was married, it felt like the rest of my life was more or less laid out in front of me. I was going to spend every day with this same person, forever. That idea should've been reassuring, exciting, gratifying — all those things marriage is supposed to be. Except, I was miserable. Maybe it had to do with our 17-year age difference.
At 35, I was a completely different person than I'd been when I got married. Still, I was stuck with the partner 23-year-old me had chosen. Meanwhile, my husband was the same guy he'd been since we met. I had to face the reality that our problems weren't going to go away, and be honest about whether I could live with them.
I asked myself, Would I want one of my daughters to stay in a marriage this unhappy? The answer was no. I wanted my girls to grow up knowing it's never too late to change course and pursue happiness, even if it means breaking a promise. So instead of staying in a marriage that was never really right for my husband or me, I decided to take the leap and gamble on a better future for us all.