Let me start from the beginning and a warning, this is semi-long. My wife was separated, but married and I was divorced when we met. She was living with her mother-in-law at the time. Her husband had cheated on her before and during the marriage many times and she had separated from him more than a year before she met me. Now the reason for her remaining married. It was to help her husband out regarding health insurance.
She, like I, work for the state, so the health insurance is almost second to none with how good it is and the cost. Her husband had cardiac issues. When they separated, he couldn't get a job that paid well enough for him to care for himself and provide for their son. She was not going for child support, but she wanted to be sure that her husband could care for himself and their son with what job he had. He finally landed a job with the city government, and he would be able to afford his health insurance and still be able to provide for himself and their child. Divorce was discussed and papers were even filled out, on his end. She was working on them herself after he had handed them to her to do her part. Then, on Thanksgiving Day 2021, she got a call from him. He was in the hospital, and they diagnosed him with two forms of cancer. Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma. She decided to forgo the divorce as she knew that he wouldn't be able to keep his job, and it was the right decision to make, as he lost it a few months later while going through treatment.
The first treatment was supposed to give him 5–10 years. It only lasted for 2.5 years. He did another treatment, and we had hoped that this one may have gotten him the 10 years that they talked about, as it had reduced the tumors by 50% and even got rid of some. However, a month later, they did another PET scan, and he had dozens and dozens of soft-tissue tumors all throughout his body, and they had given him weeks to live. The treatment had converted the multiple myeloma cancer to the soft-tissue tumors. The doctors said that it was one of the most aggressive cancers they have ever seen. That was this past summer. He passed away on October 21, 2025.
Doing what she had done allowed him to see their son graduate high school, which is what he wanted to be able to see. He also wanted to see her be happy, and he got to see her be happy with me.
We were at the memorial last week and those that knew what she did for him came to her and thanked her with tears in their eyes for giving him almost four more years. They even came to me and thanked me as well for staying by her side and never leaving her through all of this when I had every right to do so. She herself still thanks me for the same thing. Her dad has said that he is not sure she would have made it through all of this without me, and he thanked me for the sacrifices that I made during the 9 years her and I have been boyfriend and girlfriend and then fiancés.
Yes, we lived together during this as well. Neither could afford to live on our own with the rising prices of housing in Florida. Even apartments are getting more and more expensive and she lived with her MIL as I mentioned above and I was with my own parents after the divorce. They couldn’t afford to live in the house they were in and the MIL wanted to get out on her own again. It’s not that she didn’t love my wife, it’s that she just wanted to be on her own. I was living with my parents and that was getting to be volatile with my mom. I needed out and we decided to get an apartment together. That was February 2017.
We got married February 6, 2026.
We believe that God brought us together for a reason. This is the best relationship either of us has ever had. Neither tears the other down. If we argue, which is not often, there aren’t cheap shots and they don’t last long and then we communicate with each other about the argument. We are each other’s biggest cheerleaders. It honestly is the best relationship that I have ever had in my life.
On top of this, I’ll be getting custody of my two kids after school ends. Their mom, my ex-wife, has a medical condition that is progressing and she finds it hard to take care of them now and her husband has his own health issues and his hands full with just taking care of himself and her. My kids are a girl 13 and a boy 11. They have older half siblings up north, but that is for another day.
We feel truly blessed!
I wanted to post this in the beginning so that this was all out in the open. I didn’t want to hide it while I responded to posts within the forum.
She, like I, work for the state, so the health insurance is almost second to none with how good it is and the cost. Her husband had cardiac issues. When they separated, he couldn't get a job that paid well enough for him to care for himself and provide for their son. She was not going for child support, but she wanted to be sure that her husband could care for himself and their son with what job he had. He finally landed a job with the city government, and he would be able to afford his health insurance and still be able to provide for himself and their child. Divorce was discussed and papers were even filled out, on his end. She was working on them herself after he had handed them to her to do her part. Then, on Thanksgiving Day 2021, she got a call from him. He was in the hospital, and they diagnosed him with two forms of cancer. Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma. She decided to forgo the divorce as she knew that he wouldn't be able to keep his job, and it was the right decision to make, as he lost it a few months later while going through treatment.
The first treatment was supposed to give him 5–10 years. It only lasted for 2.5 years. He did another treatment, and we had hoped that this one may have gotten him the 10 years that they talked about, as it had reduced the tumors by 50% and even got rid of some. However, a month later, they did another PET scan, and he had dozens and dozens of soft-tissue tumors all throughout his body, and they had given him weeks to live. The treatment had converted the multiple myeloma cancer to the soft-tissue tumors. The doctors said that it was one of the most aggressive cancers they have ever seen. That was this past summer. He passed away on October 21, 2025.
Doing what she had done allowed him to see their son graduate high school, which is what he wanted to be able to see. He also wanted to see her be happy, and he got to see her be happy with me.
We were at the memorial last week and those that knew what she did for him came to her and thanked her with tears in their eyes for giving him almost four more years. They even came to me and thanked me as well for staying by her side and never leaving her through all of this when I had every right to do so. She herself still thanks me for the same thing. Her dad has said that he is not sure she would have made it through all of this without me, and he thanked me for the sacrifices that I made during the 9 years her and I have been boyfriend and girlfriend and then fiancés.
Yes, we lived together during this as well. Neither could afford to live on our own with the rising prices of housing in Florida. Even apartments are getting more and more expensive and she lived with her MIL as I mentioned above and I was with my own parents after the divorce. They couldn’t afford to live in the house they were in and the MIL wanted to get out on her own again. It’s not that she didn’t love my wife, it’s that she just wanted to be on her own. I was living with my parents and that was getting to be volatile with my mom. I needed out and we decided to get an apartment together. That was February 2017.
We got married February 6, 2026.
We believe that God brought us together for a reason. This is the best relationship either of us has ever had. Neither tears the other down. If we argue, which is not often, there aren’t cheap shots and they don’t last long and then we communicate with each other about the argument. We are each other’s biggest cheerleaders. It honestly is the best relationship that I have ever had in my life.
On top of this, I’ll be getting custody of my two kids after school ends. Their mom, my ex-wife, has a medical condition that is progressing and she finds it hard to take care of them now and her husband has his own health issues and his hands full with just taking care of himself and her. My kids are a girl 13 and a boy 11. They have older half siblings up north, but that is for another day.
We feel truly blessed!
I wanted to post this in the beginning so that this was all out in the open. I didn’t want to hide it while I responded to posts within the forum.
