Playing with Bubbles

Do you remember playing with bubbles and the feeling of joy it gave you? The other day I was watching my kids play with bubbles and just laugh and giggle. It made me remember how things were so much simpler as a kid. You dreamed about your perfect man, planned the wedding and decorated the house! Then you grow up. And the dreams change.....well, unless you are like me and are a single mom, then they pretty much stay the same! There is just added stress on top of it. So as my kids played, I joined them. Spinning in the bubbles, trying to catch them before the popped-just laughing and giggling without a care in the world! My life bubble popped about 3 and a half years ago when my now ex husband came home from work and told me "I'm done". Done? With what?! He went on to tell me he was done being married, done being a father, just done. He said I could have whatever I wanted, he just wanted out. Wow! I was devastated. I grew up where the word divorce was not in our vocabulary. It takes 2 to make a marriage work and only 1 to end it. And that's what he was doing. I was hours away from family, a stay home mom (my kids were 4 and 7 months) battling post partum depression and my bubble just popped! Lucky for me, God blessed me with amazing parents. They came and helped me pack up my things and moved me back in with them. Then I started the divorce papers.....he told me I could have whatever I wanted and that is what I was going to do! We didn't own a house, the vehicle I drove was already in my name and we really didn't have any joint credit cards-all we had of value were the kids. I went for full custody, giving him visitation rights only-after all, he said he was done being a father! When we went to court, the judge looked at my ex as though he was insane to give up his kids and only get a few hours a month visitation, but he signed the papers. It was final. I was divorced. POP! Looking back on things now, as if standing outside that little bubble I thought was so perfect, I see that I am better off being divorced. He was controlling and manipulative. And now I get to raise my kids in the way I believe they should be! But at the time, when my bubble popped, it was hard. Life now isn't a bed of roses (or maybe it is since they have thorns!), but my bubble is floating as we laugh and giggle through life!