Parting Thoughts: The Divorce Diaries — Stories of Love, Loss and the Courage to Let Go

Sunset in Las Cruces, July 8, 2020

Welcome to the Divorce Diaries: It’s never easy to say goodbye, even when you have very good reason to do so. While our Case Studies are full of poignant first person accounts of the 5 Reasons to Leave — Abuse, Addiction, Adultery, Abandonment, and Angst — in this section you’ll find letters of love, wishes for the future, and thoughts on how to move on with grace. Click here to share your story with us.

About many of the pics in the Divorce Diaries: When I first separated from my husband in November 2014, I began doing the very thing I’d longed to do my entire marriage — travel. The images you see illustrating the Parting Thoughts below were snapped over the last six years as I zigzagged my way from Richmond to Napa to Marfa, TX and LA, from Paris and Geneva to Barcelona, and for a brief beautiful week to Iceland in December 2017.

World’s Largest Chili Pepper: Hope celebrating her 56th birthday, July 8, 2020

I hope these snapshots give you a glimpse into how absolutely breathtakingly beautiful this world of ours is. If you have a hankering to check it out but your partner isn’t game — as our friend and love expert Dr. Helen Fisher says, “Educated people don’t stay in marriages that don’t make them happy.”

I leave you with this parting thought, and parting shot: From my birthday celebration when I traveled to see the world’s largest chili pepper (in Las Cruces, NM) to a rose garden in Claremont last spring, or the volcanic majesty of caves near Reykjavík — here’s my wish for you: Open to the possibilities. And never, never, never be afraid to turn your wildly improbable goals into your reality! Stay well. — Love, Hope