She told a heartbreaking tale: Of a marriage long desired, of children finally born, and of it all unraveling after. Her marriage now finds itself in a house with two middle-school-age children and a spouse she barely considers a confidante. Intimacy, of any kind, deserted them more than a decade ago. And these words she spoke after finally meeting with the divorce lawyer to look at her options and dividing time with her children became real: “My happiness can wait. I will have time to be happy. I need to make the best of it as it is right now.”

The thought of changing her children’s lives forever is an insurmountable obstacle in her mind. It is a common barrier for parents and their own happiness the first and surest sacrifice.


You can find more of Angela's writing in her book Patched Up Parenting.