The next chapter......

It's 11:45 on a Saturday night. My final evening on this couch, in this particular living room. While I'm happy to be moving on, there's so many great memories here that I will miss.

As I sit here looking at the blank walls and empty shelves, it reminds me of my first days here. While moving into an apartment might seem like a petty thing to reflect on, it stands for so much more. For me, it meant freedom. I remember nearly two years back how absolutely terrified I was when I committed to the idea of independence. Mustering up the courage to walk away from a verbally abusive marriage and start completely over, with very little to my name - I honestly didn't know if I would make it on my own. I kept worrying and wondering if this was the right choice.

My parents stayed here with me on the first night, as the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. New chapter - new plan.

So much has happened since then......leading up to the changes of now. As I go tomorrow to start the next phase of my life, it astounds me how things work out. I still cannot grasp how unbelievably lucky I am to have found someone so incredible - who I can say (for the first time ever) that I love with my whole heart, and without a single doubt in my mind. We don't control our fate - who we meet, and when. It's still so hard to believe that two months out of the hell I was living, I would meet the man I would spend the rest of my life with.

I can't even begin to think how things would be had I not pushed myself to find happiness in life. This little two bedroom apartment was my starting point. Where I learned again how to be 'me', without fear of judgement or criticism, and without even looking, managed to find someone so perfect for me, that it makes fairy tales seem credible.

So here's to the next chapter - one that I can say, without a doubt, will be the best one yet.......