Meet Joelle (Author)
Like most young girls, I used to daydream about my future husband. I wondered if he was someone I already knew or perhaps a sexy stranger who would sweep me off my Converse-wearing feet. I crafted scenarios, fantasized romantic proposals and swooned over proclamations for which I yearned, like “I want you to be the mother of my children.”
Little did I know, the reality that awaited me was more along the daytime drama worthy storylines I gave my Barbies: deceit, heartbreak and divorce.
My world came crashing down around me in 2009, just one year after my then-husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. I ended my marriage, declaring to myself that I deserved the life I always envisioned and was going to get just that. Celebrating this blessing for a second chance, I took my dogs and my dreams and never looked back.
A few weeks after I got settled back in my old hot pink bedroom at my mother’s house, I continued the cleansing of all negativity in my life, including ending a few close friendships because I felt a lack of support. Then another normality was ripped from my days- I lost my job.
Just in case you’re keeping score- there I was, a 28 year-old jobless, best friendless, husbandless women starting her life over from scratch. Fun times.
No, really.
Rock bottom is definitely a rancid place to exist, however, I chose to dance in the dirt. Surviving the worst times of my life with a smile has today enabled me to celebrate the very best of times.
It bothers me to use the word “husband” when referring to my past, because now that I have met my real soulmate (see photo above!), I know the man whose last name I once took was never worthy of that title.
However, the situation I conquered did inspire this one- Trash the Dress: Stories of Celebrating Divorce in your 20s. This book will be a collection of stories from women who survived divorce in their 20s and are celebrating their new lease on life. My inspiration? When my marriage first ended, I couldn’t find any divorce books to which I could relate. There were books from therapists filled with marriage-saving strategies and books with stories from mothers who spent decades as wives. I didn’t want to save my marriage so that nixed the majority of books on the shelves. I did read one collection of divorce stories, but found it hard to relate to women who had children my age.
I know there are other young women out there just like me, who felt so alone, like they were the only one to which this happened. It’s scary entering your 30s and feeling like you’re starting from scratch, as you watch your other friends walk down the aisle and give birth. I know. That’s why I feel it’s so important that as young, confident women with potential dripping from our pores, we unite and lead the way for those whose lives as just turning down this winding road. This book will show those women that divorce in your 20s is just the beginning of the life you were meant to live. And that life is indeed beautiful.
Trash the dress, burry your wedding album in the back of your closet, and celebrate your divorce!
If you’re reading this to find out my professional background, please visit my LinkedIn profile.
Love,
Joelle Caputa