Broken Road

I used to be a single mom; I was proud of the title 'single mom', it carried weight, it carried a banner that told society I have been there and survived. I had also stopped trusting most people and stopped going out, stopped challenging myself, stopped learning. I was becoming a hermit, socially isolating myself, this is not safe or recommended.

I then met a man, in a bar, while out with friends. Most people told me 'you don't find decent men in bars'; and this is true 95% of the time. During the evening we danced most of the time, and during the down time we talked. We discovered we had more in common than we thought. We shared the same goals, dreams, and desires. Yes, at first I thought he was leading me on and telling me what I wanted to hear. The interesting part was that HE thought I was leading him on and telling him what he wanted to hear. Before we started dating exclusively, we had THE talk of our expectations from each other and the relationship...honesty, fidelity, humor, hard-work, and please let me know if I have something in my teeth kinda stuff.

We have six children between us; three mine and three his from previous relationships. If you don't think our blended family is dynamic from previous marriages, you have not experienced a blended family and need to be educated on this. Your ex WILL utilize anything to sabotage you and this new relationship no matter what. We gave each other full disclosure regarding our past and what other people thought of us, even though we are no longer THAT person. We did not have OUR children, why? Because we have six children between us.

We have survived the recession of 2008, he lost his job. We survived child support; yes, he has been responsible and faithfully paid his debt, however, when baby momma uses the children as a cash cow it only hurt the child. We survived my educational pursuits so we can rise above and be better than we used to be. We raised our children better than our parents, being the parents we wanted to have. We are helping to raise our grandchildren, being the grandparents we wanted to have.

We have been together for 17 years and married for 15 years. God Bless the Broken Road that led me straight to you ~ Rascal Flatts. It was our wedding song and still moves us every time we hear it.