16 Heartwarming Stories That Prove Letting Go Is Often the Start of Something Beautiful

No one would argue that divorce is hard, but fortunately, it’s not the end of everything. Sometimes it’s the beginning of the most unpredictable part of life. We put together 16 stories where a breakup became a step into a new chapter in life.

• To celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary with my husband, we went to an expensive restaurant. As he was cutting the fish, he calmly said, “I’m leaving. I’ve fallen in love with someone else.” He finished his meal, nodded to me, and left, while I was glued to my chair, crying.
  Suddenly, I looked down and started laughing through tears — there was a note with a phone number, saying, “Call me.” It felt like a scene from some silly movie. But it was like something clicked inside me: I crumpled the note, threw it in my pocket, and ran out of the restaurant.
  I went through the divorce with a psychologist, and one of my small, yet personal reassurances was that very note. I told myself, “Here you were sitting and crying because a man left you, and another one decided to make a move right away. You’ve still got it!”
  And then I actually called that number. The man remembered me with difficulty but invited me on a date. Nothing clicked, there was no continuation, but it felt like a dam broke: I started getting out, registered on a dating site, went on dates.
  My ex remarried right after the divorce, and I don’t have a family yet, but over time, I am insanely grateful to fate for steering me away from someone who wasn’t my person.
• I’m 50 years old. I lived with my second husband for 24 years and divorced because I realized I didn’t want to grow old with this person. And 2 years ago, I met a wonderful man who said he had waited for me all his life. It’s now been a year since we got married, and I moved in with him. © irina_keller75 / Threads
• We divorced after 13 years of marriage. I became more active in my work. After all, I’m paying for the apartment on my own, and I have more time. As a result, I lost a little weight, bought some new clothes, got a new haircut.
  And then, to my surprise, I was riding my new bike, and suddenly my ex caught up with me saying, “Miss, can I ask you out?” I took off my sunglasses and said, “Seriously?” He turned pale, nearly fell off his bike. © Overheard on Telegram / Telegram

• My husband left for a coworker, over whom we constantly fought. I suspected them, but he denied it. Meanwhile, I’m unemployed, and my kids and I live in a rented place.
  One evening, I’m sitting and whispering, “Give me a sign that everything will be alright.” And suddenly a cup cracked right in my hands. Maybe I squeezed it too hard or something else. Anyway, I dropped it out of surprise, and it shattered.
  I started picking up the pieces and burst into tears. Then I hear little footsteps and my youngest’s sleepy voice, “Mommy, don’t cry. And throw away the yucky stuff.” In that moment, something seemed to click inside me. I threw away the pieces and calmly went to sleep.
  The next day, I filed for divorce myself, found a lawyer through friends. Went through quite the adventure, and then just began to live. 5 years later, I have a wonderful husband, and my boys will have a sister.
• A year and a half ago, I divorced my husband. I grieved, hated the whole world, cried, and was sick almost all winter. It took me a year to fall out of love with that selfish person. He said I’d never find anyone else and would be alone.
  Now, I’m dating his business coach — the person whose name he would speak with awe when we lived together. I adore him, can’t get enough of him. Now, during his rare visits, my ex comes into our apartment and looks at me with admiration. © Overheard / Ideer

• During my university years, I was good friends with a classmate. We hung out with mutual friends sometimes, laughed, and had fun. I liked him, but nothing more.
  At that time, I had already been married for 2 years, and things weren’t going well with my husband. I caught him lying and cheating, and eventually, we divorced.
  I spent quite a while dealing with it until my university friend jokingly suggested I marry him. He said, “Why are you worrying so much? Let’s have a wedding, have fun, and you’ll cheer up, then when you calm down, we’ll divorce.”
  We’ve been married for 2.5 years now, raising our daughter, and I’ve never been as happy and calm as I am with him. I remember my ex-husband like a bad dream. I feel ashamed for wasting several years on a person who didn’t value me. © Overheard / Ideer
• The only way my life got “worse” was financially. My ridiculous divorce cost me $40K, started to drag down my credit.
  Fast-forward 3 years, I’ve resaved most of my savings, my credit is great... and I am so much happier. Yeah, I went from a 2 income household making $230K to just my teacher’s salary. Worth every single penny and struggle. © IllustriousWeb894 / Reddit
• I left my partner of 4 years and met my now partner of 5 years 3 months after we split. I wasn’t looking, it just happened. He was a relative of a friend’s family, and he happened to not live too far away.
  We started very slow and now have a 2-year-old together, and he raises my 8-year-old as his own. It always happens when you are not looking. © anh2017mmm / Reddit

1 year ago this week, my very painful divorce was finalized.

I was depressed, defeated, and drained. 6 months ago, I knew I needed to start pedaling again. 3 months ago, I treated myself to a Yeti Beti.
This past weekend, I went to Moab for the first time. What a difference a year and a bicycle make. So happy!

• I once had a reputation of being the kindest, sweetest, most loving person anyone knew. Quick to smile, quick to hug, quick to laugh. Depression, loneliness, and a broken heart stole that from me. I became mean, and cold, and very serious.
  Tonight, while my son sleeps peacefully in his bed, I’m watching Grey’s Anatomy in a nice apartment in a decent neighborhood I earned and pay for myself. Then my cat starts licking my (very ticklish) knee, and I start laughing. Really laughing. Deep and honest, something I haven’t heard in so long, it startled me for a second.
  Then I realize how blessed I am. My son is safe and (finally) doing well in school. We have a solid relationship. I’m thriving on my own, something my ex always told me I could never do without him. I finally have a couple of friends again. © River_Featherstone / Reddit
• The woman who “stole” my husband did me the biggest favor possible. If I knew where she was, I would send her flowers every year on the anniversary of our divorce. He has married 3 additional times since our divorce and cheats on every one of his wives and girlfriends. That misery could have been my life for decades. © Grandmapoppy / Reddit

After almost 2 years of fighting each other in a nasty divorce, the wife and I decided we loved each other too much to go through with it.

• I got divorced at 35 and felt like I would always be alone for a long time. This year at 46, I finally met the man I believe is my forever person and I still pinch myself. Just keep pushing forward and it will happen. Took me 11 years.
  We met on Facebook dating and even though I live in the middle of nowhere, he was only 40–45 minutes from me. I’m moving in with him this week, and he seems very happy about it, which still blows me away. © Unlegally_blonde / Reddit

After 2 unsuccessful marriages, I think I finally found happiness and the love of my life, and we got married last Sunday.

• I’ve been single for 9 years now, 65 years old. I have a job I like, I go to concerts, Vegas, drive up the coast just to do it. And watch every Dodger game, football game or basketball game that I want to.
  Yeah, sometimes I’m lonely, but I don’t get lost in it, or dwell on it. Sometimes I even get lucky. It’s life. That’s all, you’ll find your way. Just don’t stress. © Knucklehead_always / Reddit
• I am about to turn 50 next week. My ex-husband blew up my marriage when I was around 40. Took a few years to deal with that and get back to my “self.” I was ready to be a single “dog lady” for the rest of my life.
  But I started to get lonely. A friend urged me to try online dating. I spent about 2 years on and off it. Dated some people for short periods of time. Learned what I didn’t want. And just as I was about to give up on the whole thing and cancel my account, I came across a man’s profile that spoke to me.
  I messaged him and he messaged back. He said he was sick with a terrible cold and couldn’t meet up right away. That could have been a red flag, but something made me believe him and I held on and waited for several more weeks, and he did finally get back to me, and we arranged a date.
  That was 6 years ago. He is the sweetest, kindest man I have ever met. He makes me happy every single day in a million different ways. We are best friends and love just being in the same room together.
  I know without a doubt that I will spend the rest of my life with this man. I was at the lowest point in my life at 40, with my marriage imploding. And now, at 50, I am the happiest I have ever been. This man is everything I ever wanted and more. © Ordinary-Difficulty9 / Reddit

Divorce is certainly not the thing people tend to think about when they get married. Everyone hopes to live a long and happy life together, but sometimes destiny has its own plans, and it’s important to go through this with dignity.