Nicole, you have done a great job and come so much further than I thought you would based on early days. I think my fear for you, and perhaps others, is not how you are handling this time alone, but how you will handle it when he inevitably tries again to come back. I think we are trying to gird you for that.
The way you talk about yourself and your options is also very limiting. I don't come from a conservative background, but although liberal in my beliefs I live a very conservative life by choice. Please don't put so many boundaries on your future, which is unknowable to you now, and think expansively about where it might take you and who might be there with you. You don't have to figure all of this out today. Just live today. Find the joy.
