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She Left Me and Our Kids for Another Man | A Veteran Dad’s Story of Betrayal & Resilience #cheating
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Jun 29, 2025
She Left Me and Our Kids for Another Man | A Veteran Dad’s Story of Betrayal & Resilience #cheating In Todays Video You Will Gain Knowledge About She Left Me and Our Kids for Another Man | A Veteran Dad’s Story of Betrayal & Resilience #cheating People Also Search For:- veteran story, single dad life, betrayal recovery, my wife cheated, divorce and kids, real life story, pandemic parenting, mental health journey, PTSD healing, fatherhood struggles, healing from infidelity, emotional storytelling, true story YouTube, rebuilding after betrayal, family breakup story, parenting after divorce, resilience story, coping with heartbreak, stay at home dad life Tags:- #singledad #veteranlife #truestory #betrayal #parenting #healingjourney #divorcerecovery #dadlife #mentalhealth #ptsdrecovery #readiator @readiator @crazypepperstories7796 @RedditFamilyTales @Requestedreads @ytMinifablefever @Fyra-d1u @Narrativ01 @jawerlydiaries @readiator Thank You For Watching :)
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0:00
hey everyone I'm a disabled veteran a
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dad and someone who's been through the
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ringer my life flipped upside down when
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the pandemic hit and I lost my job
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overnight I became a stay-at-home dad
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juggling cooking cleaning laundry and
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caring for my two incredible kids my
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9-year-old daughter and my one-year-old
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son Peter my wife Gwen was working long
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hours and I thought we were a team
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holding it together for our family but
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life had other plans and things got
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messy fast before co Gwen and I had big
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dreams we both grew up in tough homes
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and we vowed to give our kids the love
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and stability we missed out on when
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Peter was born just before the pandemic
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we thought he'd be the glue to hold our
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rocky marriage together but crack
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started showing gwen took on extra work
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for money and I stepped up handling
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every chore to lighten her load we even
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moved in with my mom to save cash and
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reduce her stress i thought we were
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sacrificing for our family but I was
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blind to what was really happening in
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March I noticed Gwen pulling away she
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was always on her phone face down barely
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engaging by April my gut screamed
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something was wrong by my birthday in
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May I was sure Gwen had been seeing
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someone else a colleague the woman I'd
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loved for 14 years the mother of my kids
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was building a secret life she moved out
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to live with him leaving me our daughter
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and Peter with my mom it felt like 14
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years of my life vanished in a heartbeat
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like I'd been punched in the soul the
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pain was raw like telling a story to
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someone you love only to turn around and
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find they're gone my daughter stopped
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mentioning her mom peter just a toddler
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didn't even ask for her not even for
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milk but me I was drowning in loneliness
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to cope I threw myself into fitness and
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I'm proud to say I dropped below 200 lb
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for the first time in years i started
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writing poetry to process the hurt and
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my kids became my anchor but the
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betrayal lingered gnawing at me let's
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talk about my kids my daughter she's
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nine and she's struggling she admires
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Gwen wants to be like her but feels the
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sting of her mom's absence peter
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developed separation anxiety clinging to
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me whenever Gwen showed up after weeks
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away it broke my heart i organized
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drawing nights movie nights anything to
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keep us connected and distracted as a
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dad I felt alone trying to hold our
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world together while falling apart
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inside have you ever felt like you're
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carrying the weight of the world for
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your family drop a comment i'd love to
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hear your story gwen's choices didn't
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just hurt me they hurt our kids she'd
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visit maybe four or five times in 2
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months sometimes letting them stay at
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her new place but her texts to our
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daughter were one-sided always started
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by her i started seeing the signs I'd
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ignored her phone always face down
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excuses to go back to work no effort for
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my birthday i played detective and
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confirmed she'd been with her colleague
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since March we'd gone on a family trip
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in February thinking everything was fine
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how could I have been so naive here's
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where I made a choice i could let this
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destroy me or I could fight for my kids
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and myself i chose to fight i cut
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contact with Gwen focusing only on our
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kids' needs it wasn't easy she kept
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reaching out acting like nothing
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happened i tried being polite but the
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anger built i was furious not just at
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her but at the
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situation my kids didn't know she was in
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a psychiatric hospital and I didn't want
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them to as a former firefighter I've
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seen what mental health struggles can do
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i suspected her hospitalization tied to
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harmful behavior but I couldn't let that
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drag me back into her chaos i focused on
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what I could control i got my daughter
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into counseling to prepare for school
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and process her emotions i worked on my
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own mental health treating my PTSD
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through veterans affairs my brother and
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mom became my rock cheering me on i even
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tried dating apps like Bumble not
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because I was ready but to step out of
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my comfort zone i read Stop Being Mr her
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nice guy which showed me how I'd put
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Gwen's needs above mine for years i was
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done being her backup plan let's get
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real betrayal cuts deep but it's a
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wakeup call i realized I deserved more
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than being someone's second choice
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gwen's affair partner even tried
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messaging me on Facebook i blocked him
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took a screenshot and broke my no
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contact rule to tell her she shrugged it
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off saying it wasn't her problem that
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taught me stick to no contact no matter
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what it's been a month and I'm holding
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strong my anger isn't about him it's
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about what Gwen's choices did to our
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family if you've been betrayed how do
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you handle the anger share in the
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comments i could use the wisdom being a
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dad is my greatest joy but it's
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exhausting my days are packed training
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therapy raising two kids my daughter and
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I have movie nights on weekends peter
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and I take daily walks while his
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sister's at school but my PTSD makes
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focusing hard i keep replaying how I
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supported Gwen's career gave her foot
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massages after long days only to feel
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worthless now it's like my efforts meant
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nothing if you felt taken for granted
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how do you rebuild your sense of worth
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i'm finding relief in kickboxing and
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therapy but it's a slow climb then
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things got complicated gwen's in a
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mental health facility recovering from
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self harm attempts she's in therapy on
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meds and says she wants to be more
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involved with the kids part of me hopes
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she gets better for their sake not mine
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but I'm
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skeptical she left our kids for her
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affair partner can I trust her not to do
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it again my daughter's therapist worries
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she might self harm influenced by her
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mom's rejection peter's doing okay but
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misses her i'm torn let her back in or
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shield them from more pain what would
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you do your advice means a lot i started
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asking tough questions should I wait for
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the court to decide custody or act now
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gwen filed for divorce last June and I
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responded but we're still waiting for a
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court date in my state abandoning kids
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for a year can terminate parental rights
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i think that's what happened i want full
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custody to give my kids stability but
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Gwen's trying she's visiting more
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especially Peter our daughter feels
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ignored and that kills me i'm working
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with a lawyer but it's tough finding one
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my mom trusts the costs are high but my
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kids are worth it here's where I need
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your help YouTube family gwen's talking
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about quitting her job moving closer
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even suggesting couples
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therapy she says she's done with her
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affair partner but I can't trust her yet
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she hasn't apologized for the betrayal
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itself just vague regrets i miss the
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Gwen I met at 18 her witty humor her
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kindness the way she said my name but I
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can't let nostalgia cloud my judgment my
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daughter wants our family whole but I
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told her not to hope too high if Gwen's
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manipulating me I won't fall for it
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what's your take drop it in the comments
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i'm all ears i'm leaning toward full
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custody if Gwen's serious about recovery
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I'll consider co-parenting but only
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after she proves herself i've been
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through too much to be her safety net
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i'm also exploring a VA rating increase
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as a disabled veteran which could help
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financially my kids happiness is my
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priority but I'm learning to value my
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own healing therapy kung fu and a
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healthier diet have been game changers
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the other day I felt a spark of joy like
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I was young again that's progress right
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let's talk hope despite the pain I
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believe in second chances not just for
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Gwen but for me i've made mistakes
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ignored red flags maybe been too kind
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but kindness isn't weakness it's
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strength i'm teaching my kids that love
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isn't a romcom it's messy but worth
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fighting for if Gwen's therapy works
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maybe we have a 1% chance of rebuilding
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if not I'm okay going solo my kids my
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mom my brother they're my family i'm
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building a life I'm proud of one day at
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a time 7 months later things are clearer
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the divorce was brutal but I got a court
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order keeping Gwen away for now she's
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still in a mental health facility and
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I'm focused on my kids happiness peter's
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learning new words daily and my
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daughter's progressing in therapy i'm
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still on dating apps but I'm not rushing
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i'm healing growing finding joy in small
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moments like singing with Peter or movie
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nights with my daughter i'm even
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teaching Peter breathing exercises to
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help with his anxiety it's a journey but
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we're moving forward this journey taught
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me you can't control others but you can
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control how you respond i'm choosing
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resilience love and hope to anyone
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watching who's been betrayed abandoned
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or feels lost know this you're enough
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you're stronger than you think keep
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going one step at a time if my story hit
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home hit that like button share it with
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someone who needs it and subscribe for
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more real talk let's keep this community
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growing tell me in the comments how do
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you find strength after betrayal
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until next time take care and keep
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fighting for your happiness