I Guess It Wasn't True Love

I just realized ... 24 years ago today I married my first husband.

:(

::sigh::

That marriage definitely didn't fly, run or rejoice.
Nor was it free. I was constantly held back.
It turned out to be very costly to me.

It cost me what little confidence I did have. It's taking an awfully long time to get that back.

The BEST part, of course, was that I have the gifts of my two oldest daughters. For that reason alone, I'm glad I went through the experience.

And I learned quite a bit about my own resiliency through the fire of that process, too.

Married love looks quite different the second time around. Dale and I have known each other over 19 years now ... have been married over 17. I don't know that this love flies, runs and rejoices, either. It's quite a bit calmer than that.

But free?
Undeniably.

And it doesn't hold back.