"Sit here," your attorney pulls a chair from the conference room table. All morning it seemed you were moving in a fog. The drive to his office occurred but the details of the trip were not meaningful to you. In fact, you could not remember it.

The Paperwork

The attorney sat next to you pushing some papers forward with pages folded back. "Right here with the arrows, you need to sign your full name on each of the tagged pages on the indicated places." However, you fold the pages back so you could read the Dissolution of Marriage document.

There it was the statement of your marriage failure. The words that followed met legal requirements for divorce but did not tell the story of pain and heartache that was your life for the last 18 months. You continued to read for the next page or two. Seeing your former partners name, your spouse, brought bittersweet memories.

All failed marriages rest on both good and bad events, memories. It is easy to focus on the bad, as that seems to signify the reason for failure. Remembering the good times is more painful in some ways as good things should not end badly. In your case it did.

You reach for the pen then realize it is already in your hand. The scribble on required places takes little time. Except for the sound of the pen on paper, the room remained quiet. Finally, you put the pen aside and pushed the papers to your attorney.

"Am I done?" Your attorney nodded. He looked at you with apparent concern, "You are effectively divorced but will need to get the papers filed with the judge. I will let you know if any problems but by tomorrow this time you will be officially single again."

Somehow, those words felt hollow. Following a brief nod, you left the room not sure, where you would go. One thing you would not do was go to work. Too many people knew of the events of this morning and accepting their condolences and inquires was something not needed.

The Fallout

For a brief moment, you could not remember where you parked the car, confusion, dismay; loss seemed to be the norm now. Then the loss cleared and you remember the parking slot but then realized that you forgot to get the parking ticket stamped by your attorney. It seemed to be a sign of the day.

Rather than going home, you stopped at the park. You really did not want to talk to anyone now and a vacant park bench welcomed you to sit. Without other distractions, memories of this days event led back to other memories and you relive your past marriage. The fallout of this day would linger for a long time. Paperwork done, the court would approve the decision for divorce and you would wake tomorrow as a single adult.

This was the start of a new life. What it would hold for you, how would you handle the loss, the recovery, what would you do? You know it will not be easy and the pain would linger but you also know there is help available from friends, family, and professional sources.