TAMF's Christmas Miracle?

[punkin]

Okay guys, if this is a hijack, it just has to be. Instead of "What I did on my Summer Vacation", it's about "What I know about Myself".

I have two brothers and one sister, who are much, MUCH older than me.( 15-20 years) I pretty much grew up as an only child. I've always credited that with my singular independence. Also,the fact that my Mom died when I was 14, and I had to pretty much raise myself with a 67 year old Dad.

What I am reading is the confusion brought about by having your identities so tied up with your husband's, you don't know who the H you are. I've been an Army wife for 20 years, and had to be self sufficient, but even so, this happened to me. My identity was so wrapped up in being MSGT. @@@@'s wife, that when we split, I floundered around trying to find myself. If I wasn't his wife, was I anybody at all?

If I can feel this way, as used to being on my own as I am, then it's no wonder we all have these issues . . . AT FIRST.
Then, we start to find ourselves, slowly but surely. I found comfort and enjoyment in things that I had given up because he didn't or wouldn't participate. I began to like the woman I saw in the mirror. More than that, I began to RESPECT the woman I saw in the mirror.

I found myself yesterday smiling at the prospect of . . . . . everything. Sweeping the floor, laundry, cutting out a pattern, reworking an old mirror frame. I'M HAPPY. HOW THE HE11 DID THIS HAPPEN???

It happened because I found myself again. I found out I LIKED ME. I'm a good person. All of you on this board are the same. You are good people. You just don't realize how good you are yet. How fulfilled your life can be with no one but yourself for company. If your marriage fails, then, it won't be because you didn't give it all you had. It just is what it is.

All of us have to refind WHO WE ARE. Not as a couple, but as an individual. When we find that, we find our peace.

BECCA