Wow… a lot has transpired since last year. Back in September, Darren and I faced our first real marital crisis. I’ll spare the details… no torrid love affairs or mistresses were involved. More like a mini-mid-life crisis. It resulted in counseling and a lot of self-discovery on both of our parts. But, we’re moving forward, and as a stressful of a time as it was, I’m almost glad it happened. It enabled better communication and gave us some new tools with which to work, as well as, a little more empathy for one another. I think it will take some time to feel totally back on track, but I’m confident we’ll get there.
In October, we went to Kingston, ON to visit his sister. I think that was kind of the turning point where we realized how much we’d be throwing away to toss aside our relationship and family. I do believe I’ve experienced quite a bit of enlightenment in the past months… definitely character-building. I think we decided we’d just run with that early mid-life crisis energy, and do something a little out of the norm. So, we went to Italy, believe it or not, for Christmas and New Years. I got to meet his friends I hadn’t met, since I left Italy in 1996, before he met them. It was a great experience and a wonderful memory to build on.
Anyway, here we are moving into the year 2002 with a lot of hope and optimism, but mostly gratitude for what we have and what we’ve been through.