Two years after the end of that relationship, and I am finally free from a lifetime of self-hatred. I have worked tirelessly through my issues, challenging old thought patterns and beliefs, doing the work to heal myself.

I’ll never forget hearing my name called out with such joy by a man I had only met once before, or how it felt to be seen by someone who, incredibly, had no sight at all. I didn't know at that point about the superpowers of the blind. Being recognized simply by the sound of my voice felt like sorcery.

Quarantine will lead to bigger families or broken families. Here is a third story. Quarantine will lead to stronger families with deeper bonds, closer connections, slower paces, and renewed love.

The jury is still out on whether the stranger on the front row stared at me because he thought I was cute, or it was just lipstick on my teeth. What I do know is—he’s the stranger I fell in love with. I don’t know if I believe in love at first sight, but if I did, he would be proof of it. When he stood up to speak, I knew in an instant that my life had been altered forever.

My heart has been broken a few times unfortunately, each time it was devastating and sent me on a mental and emotional roller coaster that has been the marathon I wish I had never begun.

The Golden Rule is drilled into us from the time we are verbal, but people don’t always want to be treated the way we do. Oftentimes they need something different from us and sometimes we fail to recognize that.

Walking the few blocks home, I wonder if it’s time to get back in the game again, the dating game. I mean, I’m definitely open to the idea of meeting someone even though I’m just watching from the sidelines.

On a mid-January evening, my (now ex) boyfriend of two years, whom I loved unconditionally and lived with in Colorado, blindsided me after he came home from a solo trip to the mountains and informed me that he “wasn’t happy”. While I initially suspected another woman, he blatantly denied it and lied to my face on multiple occasions. I later found out that I was ultimately deceived. This deception rocked me to my core; my emotions and actions that immediately followed were desperate, pathetic even. This was by far the hardest thing I had been through in my 29 years. The one person I needed to be there for me the most was the one person who put me in this horrific situation. This wasn’t JUST a breakup, this was much more than that.