Last summer was the worst summer of my life, save one bright spot.
I dealt with things that I never in a million years thought I would have to deal with.
My life felt like a bad soap opera, things kept happening to me that felt like a nightmare that would never end.
I was so full of rage, and fear, and distrust, and resentment.

The only good thing that came from last summer was when I adopted my beautiful baby girl Juno in August. Juno changed everything; the way I felt about life, how I cared for another living being, how maternal and protective I felt toward her, how I grew to love her more than anything in the entire world and wanted to give her the best home she could possibly have.

And now, this summer, the fear is gone. I don't have to live in fear of finding my boyfriend dead on the floor, I don't have to live in fear of lies and deceit and distrust.

I can just live, and relax, and enjoy spending time with someone whom I love very much. I thought I knew what love was before, and now I know that I had no idea. The love that I felt was real at the time, surely, but it often felt one-sided. Now I can almost physically feel the love emanating from his body whenever we are in the same room together. And the best thing about this love is that I know that it can only grow deeper with time. But it's there.

I haven't been this happy in ages. I have bills and work to worry about, but I'm with a man with kind eyes and strong hands who loves me for who I am, is honest with me to a fault, and who will always be there for me no matter what.

It's different this time. I can feel it. We were meant to find each other. All of the hell that I went through before was worth it if this is what brought me here. Everyone knows what it's like to love someone who isn't good for you. But not everyone knows what it's like to love someone who is truly good for you, someone who pushes you to do well in work and to finish school and who listens to your day even when he has a headache and who doesn't care if your house is messy and who genuinely loves your dog. I can breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that at the end of the day, we have nothing to hide from each other, that we can just simply be.