My First Marriage Was A Disaster — And I’m Thankful For That
Lessons learned.
Aging. It gives you perspective. It changes the way you see the world as well as the way you view your younger, former self.
I think back to my first marriage and feel the grimace forming on my face. It’s like looking back at a horrific car accident you almost can’t bear to watch but you do it anyway.
What on earth was I thinking??
The fearlessness of youth took me traveling. I worked. I danced. I hopped on buses not knowing my final destination. I wrote in my journals obsessively, relishing every new adventure and experience.
Looking back, I must have been out of my mind to travel alone like that. Naive at the very least.
And then I did go out of my mind. For a man. A man who was a mess. A man who was much older than me (over a decade). A man I married and shouldn’t have.
Everyone knew it. My family, my best friends. Even me.
But I did it anyway. And thus began my journey into adulthood — the hard way. I experienced love, lust, excitement — and then abuse. Emotional, verbal, and physical.
The man I married had issues that went way back. He couldn’t control his temper. He had drug problems. He never had steady…
