Almost ten years ago, I went through a divorce.
As I sat, slumped over the chair in the waiting room of the divorce attorney’s office, my face pressed up against my hands tears falling between my fingers, I heard a soft voice speak to me.
“Would you like a tissue?” she asked.
It was the receptionist. She had walked over to me, a box of kleenex in her hand and a reassuring smile on her face.
I graciously accepted and started to look away. She took a deep breath and then she said the words that I will never forget.
“Just wait, dear. You’ll see the difference that a year makes.”
I’ve never forgotten that woman. I can’t remember her face, I can’t even remember the color of her hair. But I do remember those words. They played over and over for me like a favorite record every day of my life that first year.
They were so empowering because they were right. One year after my divorce, life was vastly different.
For many years I have dreamed of writing a book that is a collection of stories from women going through a divorce. The difference between my book and anything in the self-help section, is that I want to chronicle the difference in a year. I want to follow the lives of 25 women as they go through the first year of a divorce. To hear their struggles and applaud their successes. To not only show the world, but also the women themselves, exactly the difference one year makes.
I need your help.
I’m looking for women who are currently going through a divorce. I will only be using first names in the book so their identities can stay private, if they choose. I’m looking to speak with them over the course of the year, probably 4-7 times, to see how their stories unfold.
This is a project that I really believe in. I think it can help those feeling like they are alone in the strange world of divorce. It’s a scary, lonely world and I think people need to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Please pass this along to friends, family, strangers and heck, even that ex-boyfriend from middle school. Give them my email – [email protected] and tell them to email me with the subject line: Divorce project. I want to hear from them. I want to listen.
