Brave Heart, Brave Soul. She who is brave is free.

  “It’s the second half that has the happy ending.” ~  Lisa Alter Mark  I’m asked two questions, a lot.  The first one is usually, “how has your marriage lasted so long? “And the second is typically, “what’s your secret”?  Now, I could come up with a slew of quirky, clever, wisely inspired answers. And they would probably float. But honestly, there isn’t one answer or any particular secret to a successful marriage.  So, how’d we get here? Better yet how’d we find ourselves at the beginning of year 27 together? Well, we didn’t just wake up one morning and have a flourishing marriage. That's for sure. No, our success has come through a ton of trials and errors. The hubby and I don’t fit like a perfect mold. We both came into our marriage young with dings and dents. We’re extremely stubborn, hardheaded and difficult. Neither of us are saints. We’re two very different, flawed and imperfect people and that’s putting it mildly. While there’s no big secret to our ...

  “True love doesn’t happen by accident. It’s deliberate, it’s intentional, it’s purposeful, and in the end...it’s worth it.” ~ Darleen Schachet  I used to think growing old together was some far-off place.  And when we arrived, we’d have it all together. Little did I know. At 22 the world was still so young and wild to me. The years couldn’t pass that quickly, could they? Oh yes, yes, they most certainly could. And they have.  I don’t know when it happened. Or how really. But life has flown by. That’s the thing about life though. Isn't it? It’s gone in the blink of an eye. One moment you’re 22 and welcoming your first baby into the world and the next you’re almost 50 and he’s no longer a baby, but a man of 26.   It’s crazy for me to think how young my husband and I were when we got married. Honestly, we were babies with no clue or idea how marriage worked. Or what becoming parents really required of us. We were simply in love. We said our “I dos” and becam...

    “I cannot remember exactly the first time your soul whispered to mine, but I know you woke it. And since it has never slept alone.” ~ JmStorm Twent y-five years is a long time. Seriously long in fact. Like two and a half decades kind of long to be exact. We’re talkin’ back to the days of big hair, high waisted jeans and overalls. And let’s not forget my horribly dyed black hair if you want to get really technical about it. In some parts, life was simpler I suppose. I was young, full of energy, a bit shy, just finishing up college, and ready to tackle the brave new world outside my door. Twenty-five years ago, I still thought love was some grand, romantic, absolutely charming, picturesque fairy tale. Boy, was I ready to write my own story. But looking back I have had a lot to learn yet. Over the last two and a half decades, I’ve come to understand love, real, true love anyway is so much more than a fairytale.    How about it? Wanna go back a couple decades with me...

“I would not wish for any other companion in the world but you. “~William Shakespeare Marriage like any other relationship takes work and lots and lots of it. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, or how many tears we cry over our marriages, they simply fall short and then apart. I know because mine did five years ago. Now I’m not gonna mince words or sugar coat things, life was off the rails in the wrong direction for a long time. Words were said, things were done, and hearts were broken. To tell the truth we didn’t much like each other either. The blame doesn’t matter. After 18 years of marriage, ours was failing. Did either one of us set out to harm the other? No, not at all. No one plans to intentionally hurt those they love, not unless they’re callous, heartless or cold-blooded that is. This is the thing about life though. It happens whether we like it or not. Prepared or caught off guard it can get sticky pretty quickly and end up downright muddled before we know it. An...

“When we get to the end of our lives together, the house we had, the cars we drove, the things we possessed won’t matter. What will matter, is that I had you, and you had me.” ~ Unknown Let’s be honest. My life’s been an adventure. From the moment I was born, l was handed a passport and a suitcase full of wacky and whimsical shenanigans. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t off on an escapade somewhere or juggling uncertainty. Sure, I was born a free-spirit, but I was also raised to question everything, explore the outlands and venture out past the limit signs. While I was growing up my parents seemed to be restless souls to me with a little bit of gypsy in their hearts, traveling all around the world together.   Now I gotta tell y'all within seconds of taking my first breath, mama and daddy welcomed their baby girl into what was a small, but inclusive adventurers club. After all, adventure was out there. And if it was calling our names, you can bet we were go...

“Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together? Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidence.” ~ Unknown     Nearly twenty-three years ago I met the love of my life. Six months later I married him. To be honest I wasn’t exactly looking for love when love found me. But part of my plan or not, love still found a way. I was seriously in a place of  singledom . And I liked it. I had just graduated college. I was working towards my future as an independent woman. I was eager to spread my wings and fly. Relationships weren’t on my radar, in any way. In fact, the idea of having a serious courtship was completely non-existent. Just thinking about dating gave me a headache. I’d decided I was better off being single and taking care of myself. I had things to do, places to be and people to see anyway. At this stage of my life being the other half of a some made up fairytale,  wanna  be twosome wasn’t happening. I wanted no part of be...