A Story About Two People
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I want to tell you a story about two people.
Two people who fit together, as he says, like a jigsaw puzzle.
I tell him I like him more and more everyday.
There are moments we cling to each other, moments we push away, moments we fall back and moments we fall forward - both alone and together.
We are a complicated pair. In our own heads often. Intense. Independent. Damaged (and I mean that in the best possible way). Passionate. We are so very different and so very much the same.
We have tangled schedules. We tip toe. We ask forgiveness. I soften as I remember these are new pathways and I can choose something different this time.
We inhabit a new territory. Our families broke open. We know that sadness. We know the questions and the fear and the desire to create and build and protect. We know what it's like to know someone forever and ever and then have that person disappear (even though both are still integral pieces of our lives). We know the reality of stories that have an ending.
We also know new joy and we've felt that rush of a beginning.
We are learning as we grow. Alone and together about who we are as individuals and who we are together and what it means to have our families expand.
I don't know how this story will end. It's happening right now and we're living it. Sometimes these sorts of stories are really hard to tell because you're living in the middle of it.
If we always waited for the end to tell a story we'd miss so much.
When I feel most afraid I remind myself that there are things to say, and things to celebrate, and pieces to document without fear of how the story will end. Do stories ever really end? Or do they just change and curve and zig zag and evolve into the next one?
Our family stories are different now, but they are still our families.
What I know is this, he has a huge giant heart of gold even when he tries to hide it with jokes and sarcasm. And the cure for everything just might be pie. Pumpkin for him, fruit for me.
We are in it people. One day at a time.
To be continued.
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186 comments
it's probably very hard to trust someone new in your life after someone has broken your heart and turned your life upside down...but to not let someone new into your life is cheating yourself from really living and moving forward...scarey territory...but you have navigated it with grace and dignity...thinking of your children's welfare first...you are a class act and very admired...Go, Ali, Go!!
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I love this post. Thanks for sharing your heart.
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I think this is one of my favorite posts EVER from you, Thank you for continuing to share your story with us.
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Wow, you really said your truth, Ali. Your openness and vulnerability touched me.
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Beautifully written!! Love it!
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T.S.Eliot said "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from."
I used this quote in my One Little Word page for July and seems fitting for this beautiful blog post.
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This is so awesome Ali. Love it. xo
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Beautifully said.
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ps - I'm so happy for you!
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amazing, luminous with honesty and raw emotion and ... forward movement, the joy of being brave. definitely one of your best posts. you are so real ali, so honest, so open, I think you are amazing and so very inspirational!
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wonderful!
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You are an amazing writer.
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Beautiful. Love your ability to tell this story! I wish you both the best!!
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Makes my heart smile for you both!!! :)
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"Our families broke open. We know that sadness... We know what it’s like to know someone forever and ever and then have that person disappear... We know the reality of stories that have an ending." This resonated with me so much, Ali. Except for me this is still "I" and not "We." I'm still at the beginning of my journey. Thank you for being an absolute inspiration on how to be in the face and aftermath of divorce. Thank you.
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Wow Ali, reading this made me so happy for you!
Love the way you write and that you are sharing such a tender relationship with your audience, friends, blog readers near and far :)
Also happy to hear you are embracing this new beginning - what a beautiful story and perspective!
I've now been with my husband 11 years, and 2 years married in August and I am so happy.
Although before we were married, I was sometimes sad that it took me so long to find my soul mate and that I didn't have children for a few reasons. These days, I'm just thankful to have the love of this good man and to know that we go through life together and that is our story :)
Every story is so different but still love grows and brings us together.
Definitely going to pick up Scrapbook on the Road! Thanks Ali!
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Oh man, the sentence, "Our families broke open." Hit me so hard. It's the word "open" at the end, and everything that it conveys. The raw gook on the inside. The possibilities that come when something that appeared whole is actually holding a lot more inside. It's an amazing word choice. So different from saying "broken" or "fell apart" (the phrases we often hear). And it's so much more truth. I can't wait to see this in a layout.
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That was beautiful, raw and vulnerable. Thank you for sharing.
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I felt this post so much. I too have lived through the endings and found a new beginning. You have captured it beautifully and honestly.
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These words touched me - right in the heart.
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