“I stayed in a bad relationship for three years. I was sharing...

“I stayed in a bad relationship for three years. I was sharing a man with someone else. He wouldn’t answer his phone at certain times of the night. Or he was always working late. It was three years of letting him feel good at my expense. Three years of feeling ‘less than.’ I kept telling myself that I could be a better girlfriend. Or that I could fix it. Or that I should give it more time. I was down to 108 pounds from all the stress. I was constantly clenching my phone. I was always angry and arguing and serious. Finally one night the other woman got a hold of his phone, and she called me, and started asking me all these questions. And I decided that I couldn’t live like that anymore. I walked away. That was a year ago. My spirit feels so much lighter now. I’ve gained back twenty pounds. And I’m laughing again. During those years, it took a joke to make me laugh. Now I can laugh at anything.”