I had the prove up hearing this morning, judge signed off and I filed the decree with the district clerk at 8:43 AM. Bought some lottery tickets in my way back from the courthouse. I will be the envy of all of you when it hits.

When we were waiting to sign the decree last week, my lawyer’s paralegal, who’s worked divorces for decades and has seen it all, said to me, “I don’t want to offend you, and you don’t have to answer, but was she always this mean?”

That question is telling. When someone like her asks you that, it confirms that you’ve been through the wringer.

I explained that her anger, anxiety, rage, etc was always like a tiger that could take a swipe at you between the bars of its cage, but this divorce process opened the door of the cage. She’s been on full tilt since this started a year ago.

I realized a couple of days later that the Ex actually gave me something of a gift by showing her true colors and making this process so difficult:

I will never have the pain of missing her and I will never wonder if I should have tried to stick around and work it out. I absolutely know, with zero doubt, that this is the right path for me.

That’s pretty liberating.