No Regrets

Never regret anything that made you smile at one time, laugh until your sides hurt… made you happy.  I will never regret a single day of my life with my soon to be ex-husband.    I signed the application for divorce today.  The beginning of the end of a 16 year marriage.  It is a new start for me but there will always be a part of me that mourns for the life we had together.

 My Aunt Sharon sent me this poem shortly after she found out about our separation.  I have read it many times and appreciate it more every time.

AFTER A WHILE

After a while you learn the subtle difference

between holding a hand and sharing a life

and you learn that love doesn’t mean possession

and company doesn’t mean security

and loneliness is universal.

And you learn that kisses aren’t contracts

and presents aren’t promises

And you begin to accept your defeats

with your head up and your eyes open

with the grace of a woman

and the grief of a child.

And you learn to build your hope on today

as the future has a way of falling apart in mid-flight

because tomorrow’s ground can be too uncertain for plans

yet each step taken in a new direction creates a path

toward the promise of a brighter dawn.

And you learn that even sunshine burns

if you get too much

so you plant your own garden

and nourish your own soul

instead of waiting for someone

to bring you flowers.

And you learn that love, true love, always has joys and sorrows

seems ever present, yet is never quite the same

becoming more than love and less than love

so difficult to define.

And you learn that through it all

you really can endure

that you really are strong

that you do have value

and you learn and grow

with every goodbye, you learn.

Written by Veronica Shorffstall,1971