“even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise” – Les Misérables

It was Saturday afternoon, 4 years ago this week, when my husband of 20 years told me that he wanted a divorce. Just like that. It was over. My whole world shattered. I had been fighting for 10+ years to keep my marriage together and suddenly, with his one decision – and without talking to me about it – it was all over. That day seems so long ago, and yet sometimes feels like it was just yesterday.

I remember feeling so hopeless, so afraid of the future, so uncertain of the plan for my life and the next thing I needed to do. I was afraid of where I was going to live, how I was going to support myself, and what my future would look like as a single mom. I also remember feeling such peace. A calmness that I can’t explain, a feeling of total, complete trust in God and a sure knowledge that I was not alone, and that He would guide me.

He did, and he still is!! He is guiding me everyday in a wonderful, fulfilling, beautiful future. He lead me to life changing photography classes, taught by the amazing and talented Amy & Jordan and Katelyn James. These classes not only increased my photography knowledge, taught me how to use my camera for real, showed me how to pose people in flattering photos, and taught me all about business, but they introduced me to the MOST amazing photographer friends in the world!! I needed this new adventure, these new friends and this new confidence in my life more than I could have ever known when I thought I was signing up for a how-to class. The confidence I gained in my new business helped me when I started to think about dating again in my 40’s and the changes I knew it would lead to if I found the right man.

And I did! I was led to a wonderful, patient, amazing man who is perfect-for-me in EVERY way. Jeff is the calm to my crazy, the rational to my irrational, the peace to my sometimes frenzied mind. He is kind, loving and a wonderful father to his grown children. We met in June of last year (2019), dated long distance for a couple months, got engaged in September, married in November, and he moved in with me in December!! (he’s from Michigan) To say that we were in a whirlwind of love would be a huge understatement.

Little did we know when we planned our wedding last fall that 2020 would be like living through The Hunger Games. I don’t think any of us volunteered to be tributes, but somehow we are all living through a worldwide pandemic known as Covid-19. Many things will never be the same again. We are adjusting everything in our lives to comply with new rules and guidelines, that are fluid and constantly changing. My heart is calmed and my spirit is lifted because I have Jeff in my life right now. I’m not sure how I would have lived through the last few months without him. He is my rock and the greatest blessing in my life.

He is proof that God believes in second chances, Hallmark endings and happily ever after. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from our adventures together!!

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