Reddit Stories - Harmful GUARDIANS who EXPELLED me at 18 and DISCONNECTED from me, appeared at

Episode Date: January 31, 2026

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #toxicrelationships #familydrama #emotionalabuse #estrangement #healingjourney  Summary: At 18, I faced expulsion from my home by my guardians, who chose to disconnect from me entirely. This experience has shaped my understanding of toxic relationships and the impact of emotional abuse. I now seek healing and support while navigating the complexities of family dynamics and estrangement.  Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, toxicrelationships, familydrama, emotionalabuse, estrangement, healingjourney, personalgrowth, mentalhealth, support, resilience, selfdiscovery, lifechallenges, overcomingadversity, relationshipadvice, copingstrategies, narrativewritingBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6816713/support.This episode includes AI-generated content.

Episode with two stories, first part. I hope you enjoy this story. Harmful guardians who expelled me at 18 and disconnected from me, appeared at my son's celebration to request funds and later attempted to bring me to court. Court for $50,000 I never stole. Hey, everyone. So I, 28M, celebrated my son's third birthday three days ago. It was mostly our co-workers with kids and a couple of my son's friends from his daycare with their parents. I'd also invited my estranged parents to the party after they contacted

me two weeks ago, asking if they could meet me to make amends with me. Some backstory here so it makes sense why I don't get along with them. So my parents kicked me out 10 years ago, a couple of months before I was supposed to start college. To make it extra special and poetic, they also made sure to kick me out on my 18th birthday. My parents were never the most loving or caring people. I'd say that I was pretty much ignored and unwanted throughout my childhood and the only reason my parents didn't kick me out way before 18 was probably because it would be illegal. But they did so the first chance that they got and I wasn't even surprised that they were kicking me out. I was just surprised that they were doing it on my birthday in just a couple of months before college was about to begin. I tried to talk them into letting me live with them just until I graduated and covering my tuition but they were very sure of what they wanted to do.

They wanted me out of their lives so they could do whatever they'd wanted to so far instead of wasting their time taking care of me. Their plans were to start their own business, which is a financial risk they couldn't take as long as they had me to look after and then travel all the states in an RV. It was a great plan. I have nothing against what they wanted to do but not at the cost of my future. I tried every manipulation tactic in the book to make them change their plans but with no luck. I even resorted to crying and sobbing but that didn't help either and they told me that I had one month to vacate the house and find a way for myself to cover my own expenses. I'd already been working as a cashier at one of the stores in the local mall and saving some money to buy a car but after my parents talk, I decided to leave and put that money to use.

I didn't have much but I was extremely upset with my parents. I'd never liked them much but after my birthday, I hated them so within the next two days, I texted all my relatives if they'd be willing to help me out. Most of them turned their backs on me, which was unsurprising and was a huge part of the reason I'd never spoken anything against my parents before because I'd never had anyone to count on. My friends were nice but they had their own lives and wouldn't want me sticking around to live with them either. But I'm lucky that one of my distant relatives, one of my mother's cousins,

Uncle Kevin, responded to my email and told me that I could come live with him but I'd need to make myself useful for as long as I would stay. I just needed somewhere to go and live before packed my bags and left to travel to Utah so I could live with Uncle Kevin. I didn't tell my parents anything and neither did they ask. I didn't even tell them goodbye one last time before I left and I don't suppose they cared much about it. Uncle Kevin was a nice guy and he did make me help him out with a lot of things around the house, but it was nothing impossible. He also ran his own diner which was pretty popular among the locals and he told me that I could work there as the cashier for the time being and if I was diligent and sincere, he'd pay for my tuition. He was a little

eccentric but he was rolling in money from his grandparents's inheritance and since he had no family of his own, he could afford to spend his money on things like these. And that's how I paid for college by showing my uncle just how serious I was at the diner by working well and honestly. After I graduated and moved out, I offered to start paying him back, but he told me not to bother and said that he'd collect his dues when I was a bigger success story. He was weird but sweet. Unfortunately, he never came to collect his dues since just a few years after I left. He passed away from a stroke. It was sudden and by the time his housekeeper got him to the hospital, it was too late already. I'm thankful for whatever he did for me and I'll always be grateful that he was able to at least be present at my wedding and take the place of my parents.

Uncle Kevin never really got along with his family, including my mother, as a child or even as an adult, so my parents were never able to find out where I spent those years and who covered my tuition for me. Or maybe they'd found out, but they just didn't bother to contact me. Either way, I never heard from my parents even once after I left their house. until a few weeks ago. They told me that they'd found me on social media through a cousin who's helped them trace me down since they'd heard from people that I was now married and even had a three-year-old son of my own. They apologized in their message for all that they'd done all those years ago and told me that now, they'd love to come to see me and make things right with me, mostly because they wanted to meet my wife and son. I thought it was really half-hearted and almost didn't reply to them but they sent another one within a day of that

message, saying that they really wanted to meet their grandson while they were still around and it was evident that they were trying to emotionally manipulate me. Nevertheless, I agreed and told them to come over on the day of my son's birthday. I didn't have anything in mind particularly, but after talking to my wife and discussing the messages with her, she told me she didn't mind having them over as long as I was okay with it. She knows all the history with them and we've been married for five years now, it's been ten years since my parents kicked me out so she told me that if I believed it was water under the bridge then I could invite them. Her own parents had passed away when she was really little and she'd been raised by her grandparents, both of whom had passed away in the last couple of years,

so I could tell that she really wanted some family to be present at the party. I didn't care about reconciliation but I felt like my wife actually did want them and wasn't saying it because she didn't want a strong army into anything. So I did invite my parents, for my wife's sake, and on the day of the party, they arrived an hour early before all the other guests so we could get some one-on-one time with each other. It was all very awkward and uncomfortable, but we tried to make small talk after I'd introduced them to my wife and son. They were polite and respectful for the most part, but then at one point, my wife went into the kitchen to make my dad some tea and that's when my mother told me that she was here to discuss something else as well

and she didn't want to say it in front of my wife so they'd asked her for tea. Now that that it was just the three of us, my parents apologized to me again and said that they'd come to their senses now that they'd done whatever they'd wanted to and felt like they had really treated me badly during my childhood. I thought that it was pretty nice of them to apologize and that they'd finally started acting like human beings to me but before I could accept their apology in person, they went on to tell me that they now needed money and that was a major reason that they were here right now. Apparently, they'd blown through a lot of their savings while traveling and now they were falling short while trying to pay for all their bills on time and wanted my help to live.

They knew that my wife and I were relatively well off, she was a real estate agent and I worked in a bank so we were comfortable and could afford to help them. I was very irritated by that because it just cheapened everything that they'd said to me because now I felt like it was all just a ploy to get me to help them out financially. They'd even used their grandson and their tactics to try and make me soften up towards them and while it hadn't been very effective on me, my wife had fallen for it. I didn't blame her because she didn't know just how awful my parents were and really missed her family which is why she was so keen for us to fix our relationship but I regretted ever having them over. I didn't say anything to them then because just afterward, my wife walked in with the tea for my dad and coffee for the rest of us and she seemed very happy. So I just stayed at

quiet and my mother told me to think about it. My wife did ask me what we'd been talking about, but I told her that we'd talk about it later because I didn't want to get into an argument with my parents around the same time as when the guests were supposed to start arriving. My wife talked to my parents some more for the next couple of minutes and it was an easy flowing conversation for her since she seemed to like them, but I sat there quietly because I just wanted them to leave before I lost it at them. Luckily the first guests arrived just in the nick of time and I jumped at the opportunity to distract myself from this. Once the guests were there, I busied myself with my son and the party arrangements. And then it was time for my son to cut the

cake which went well, everyone had fun. Right after that, I was about to go into the kitchen with my wife, but my parents stopped me and asked me once more if I'd come to a decision yet. So I snapped and I told them that they could wait in the living room with all the other guests and I'd let them know shortly. After everyone had received their slice, I took my spot in the middle of the living room and started off with a speech that I'd been preparing in my head after my parents stopped me outside the kitchen. I introduced my parents to all the other guests since nobody had met them before and they looked pleased that I was treating them well but the smiles dropped from their faces as soon as I went on to the next part of my speech, where I started narrating the story about my childhood and how they'd kicked me out after which I had to be taken in by my uncle.

I wrapped it all up in light-hearted jokes and everyone was laughing a little but my parents looked humiliated and my wife had a poker face throughout. I mentioned how my parents and I hadn't spoken for ten years after they'd kicked me out and finally, recently, they'd contacted me to meet their grandson and I'd almost ignored and blocked them. But then I'd changed my mind because I was just grateful that, unlike other nightmarish parents, at least mine wasn't after my money. I was able to pass it off as a joke and then I sat back down with the guests while my parents

chuckled along uncomfortably since I'd managed to make the whole speech sound like a stand-up bit so it didn't ruin the birthday vibes. After some time, the guests started leaving and my parents were the first ones to go. They left in a rush and when I saw them to the door, they shot me the nastiest looks they could but didn't say anything which I was thankful for because the last thing I wanted was to argue with them right outside the house. Once all the guests were gone and we put our son to bed, I finally had the chance to talk to my wife and explain everything to her.

But before I could say anything, she lashed out at me and told me that my speech was unnecessary and stupid. I needed to apologize to all the guests and make sure they weren't uncomfortable and also to my parents were humiliating them for no reason. I stopped her there and told her what my parents had been here for, but she said that she didn't care and said that I'd apparently ruined our son's birthday and made it all about me with that speech. I thought that was unfair because our son was just three years old and it wasn't like he was even going to remember any of this in a few years or even in a few weeks. As for the guests,

they just found it funny because of the way I'd told the story. Keeping in mind that this was my son's birthday and not the appropriate occasion for any of what I'd done but I just had to let my parents know how disappointing they were as human beings. My wife, wasn't on board with any of it and told me that I needed to apologize to everyone present for my bad behavior. I was already very stressed out that day because of my parents and the way my wife was freaking out over something that hadn't even bothered anyone else but it didn't sit right with me. I felt like she was totally invalidating my feelings about this situation even after she'd heard what my parents had come here for so I snapped at her too and told her that

I'd invited my parents because she wanted me to so if anything. She should be the one who should be a little understanding right now, but she was just thinking about how she felt and I called herself involved. She started crying after I snapped and I felt really bad about it, and I still do. I tried to comfort her immediately, but she shook me off and told me that I was the one being self-involved and hypocritical, and until I apologize to everyone who had attended the party, she wouldn't speak to me. She even moved all her bedtime stuff to the guest bedroom and has been sleeping there ever since. We haven't spoken since that night because I haven't apologized to any of the guests yet. I don't think what I did was out of line or anything and I feel like my wife's overreacting to what happened at the party.

Haven't heard back from my parents yet and nobody from the party has said anything about my speech either. I feel like she's built it up all in her head and thinks that people are going to judge us for that, but that's really not the case here and I can't even communicate that to her because she just refuses to even speak to me. I also feel like she's not trying to understand where I'm coming from because I ignored my parents for the sake of my wife and to maintain the peace before the party once already but I just couldn't take it a second time because they were putting too much pressure on me. And the thing that I'd said about my wife wanting my parents at the party more than I did was probably true, she didn't deny it when I brought it up during our argument on the night of the party. My wife's been acting like I totally ruined the party but nobody cares as much as she does. I don't want to apologize to anyone because I don't think I did anything wrong. I tried to do everything the right way but even that didn't end well for me somehow.

My parents kicked me out at 18 and abandoned me for 10 years so I think it was completely fair for me to humiliate them at a party after they tried to screw me over once more by asking me for financial help over and over again. I tried to deal with things calmly and only acted emotionally after my parents took things too far and I really think my wife needs to understand that. I guess I can apologize to her for calling herself involved, that was not cool but that's really the most I feel like I should do. Apart from that, I absolutely don't think I have anything to apologize for. I can even consider apologizing to the guests, but certainly not to my parents, so that I'd offer making a speech

at my son's birthday party to humiliate my parents who would ask me for money to help them after they kicked me out and cut me off for 10 years. Update 1 so, I talked to my wife about this today. The comment section on my original post was pretty divided on what I should have done so I decided to just say screw it and talk to my wife because that's how the marriage will work anyway. It's been six days since the party and six days of not talking to each other and sleeping in different rooms. We tried to keep it low-key for the sake of our son but he's not old enough to notice these

things yet so there was even less of an excuse for us to talk to each other. But today, before we left for work, I stopped her and told her that we absolutely needed to talk. She didn't ignore me, luckily, and our son was having breakfast in the other room so we could talk peacefully. I told her that I was sorry for calling herself involved, but apart from that, I didn't see any reason for me to be sorry. I didn't ruin the party for anyone like she believed and nobody even cares about the speech because nobody's brought it up with me yet, not even my parents. I told her as gently and respectfully as I could, that I believed she'd overreacted a bit and then waited for her to respond. She agreed that she had indeed overreacted and said that for the past few days, once her anger

over what I'd done had cooled off a bit, she'd realized that she'd acted very selfishly and hadn't been thinking about my feelings at all. She also conceded that she'd sort of made me invite my parents to reconcile, even though she hadn't verbally said it. While we'd been discussing the idea, she'd been very non-verbally trying to influence me because she was the one who actually wanted a happy family for us. So I wasn't wrong about that after all and she apologized to me for it as well. Her reasons were pretty valid if I think about it emotionally because all she'd really wanted was for us to have a complete family that she'd never really had as a kid. She'd hoped that as a married woman, she'd get some part of it but here too, her in-laws were estranged so there was no

chance that her son could get the same love and affection from his grandparents that she'd been lucky to have. She didn't get the love from her parents that she deserved when she was young because they'd passed away so early and now, her son would be loved by his parents but he'd never have any grandparents there for him. Of course, that meant a lot to her because she'd been raised by her grandparents after her parents passed away so it was kind of a big deal for her. It was all these issues with her and her need to have a complete family that made her spaz out the other day and she acknowledged it. I also apologized for not discussing these things with her and for the lack of communication that had actually led to all of this. So to sum it up, we talked things through and afterwards, we came to the conclusion that we were going to have to deal with this in therapy.

We already go to individual therapy but now we're going to consider couples counseling as well for a few other, unrelated reasons as well. Thank you for all the comments, you guys. Update 2, I posted an update here yesterday and I really didn't expect to be back so soon but I am, thanks to my parents. They sent me a lawsuit claiming that I'd stolen $50,000 from them before it run away 10 years ago and now that they'd finally managed to track me down, they wanted that money back. Obviously, none of that is true and I feel sorry for the idiot who's agreed to get involved in this as an attorney, must be some guy who's really in need of money because otherwise, I can't imagine anyone agreeing to this. Anyway, I'm obviously not going to entertain any of this nonsense and have contacted my lawyer already. My wife took back everything that she said about me having to apologize to my parents because now she's seen what kind of people they really are. I'm sure they think they can get away with this even now since I was relatively kind to them back when they first came by but they'll know that I just behaved myself back then because it was my son's birthday. Right now, I have no reason to think about the consequences.

So I'm posting all about this online and I'm going to make sure that everyone knows about not just what they're trying right now but also what they'd done to me back in the past. Update 3 So, I posted everything. Every single detail that I'd shared here is now up on my Facebook profile. It's been 20 minutes and I haven't received any texts or calls as such, but I'm waiting because I know people are going to be mad and pissed, especially since I mentioned how nobody in my family had taken me in but now that I'm in a somewhat decent position, everyone acts friendly with me. I've never invited anyone to any events, just to be clear, but my relatives who'd shut me out back then have all turned over a new leaf in the last few years and try to be on good terms. with me. Which is all fake, obviously. Just now they have their own kinds to think of and it doesn't hurt to have a well-connected relative who works in a bank and is in a position to get them

jobs. So I know stuff is going to go down now, I'm just waiting for them. Update 4. Hey, all. I'm back after almost three days. So my parents went completely ballistic after I made that post and called me up frantically several times after the post to try and get me to take it down, but I didn't listen until they texted me and promised me that they'd withdraw their case. I just needed that in writing somehow and I have that now. After that they blocked me, the real nastiness was because of my relatives whom I'd mentioned by name in my post and they were so triggered by it that they commented really nasty things about me, my wife, and even my son under the post which just proves my point about them being

terrible, selfish and idiotic folks. Their kids were the ones with the decency to apologize for their parents' actions which was really backward for me but at least some people had class and brains. I've taken that post down now but a lot of people have seen it already so everyone who turned their back on me in the past got their karma and I'm glad for it. Long story short, the parents withdrew their case. I got back to my relatives. My wife and I are still going strong. Thanks for being here, Reddit, but I think I'm going to take a break now. Signing off, bye. That's the end of the first story. Let's begin the second one.

I hope you enjoy this story. I'm calling off my commitment because my partner may fall ill down the road. We've been in a relationship for five years, and they are the one for me. And I literally can't imagine being without him. So the thought of doing this is making my stomach roll. He was adopted and neither he nor his parents knew much about his medical history. A few weeks ago, he met his biological brother for the first time and found out that his birth father had passed from Huntington's disease.

There's a 50% chance that my fiancé also has the genetic defect that causes Huntington's, but he refuses to get tested. It's not the disease I'm scared of, it's the not knowing. If we know he'll get it, we can prepare financially, practically, and emotionally. He says a positive test result will hold him back from living his life, but I feel like it's the opposite. How can we live with this giant maybe looming over us? How can I make smart decisions on where to live, how to budget, or even whether or not to have biological children with this man if I'm not allowed to have all the facts?

So, I've come to the decision that I have to break it off. I respect his decision, but I can't understand or accept it. I have literally no one I can talk to about this because it's his decision. is a F-I-N-G secret and not mine to tell. Edit, I have to go to work now, but I'll try to continue responding throughout the day, especially to the comments that exactly mirror the descending voice in my head. I just want to clarify a few things up here. 1. Would not leave him if he tested positive for the defect.

I would not leave him if he got sick. I just want a plan for us to be able to afford the best life and care for him if he does, which means we'd have to start immediately. 2. I don't want or need perfect children. that isn't realistic, but it is possible to avoid them being subjected to a 50 to 50 chance of having this disease. Of course there are alternative options, but again, they involve preparation and planning. I'm more than willing to take a full genetic panel as well. 3. Yes, one or both of us could get cancer, or permanently disabled in an accident, or any other

number of things, but I've come to learn that you can't plan for every unpredictable thing life throws at you. This is the rare occasion that we do have the opportunity to prepare. For, essentially it comes down to the fact that we're incompatible, regardless of how much we love each other. I'm a planner and he's very laid back. Until now, these traits have complimented each other, but unfortunately they brought us to an impasse that I don't think we can both move forward from happily. Second edit, I'm floored at all of these responses, supportive and. Otherwise, at the very least, I feel validated that this is a complex issue with no clear and obvious answer. I've decided to take a few steps back. Those of you who brought up the fact

that a few weeks is probably too little time for him to fully process his possible diagnosis have a really valid point, just because I want to immediately jump into problem-solving mode. Doesn't mean it's necessarily the right thing to do here. So, I'm not leaving, yet at least, and hopefully never, I'm going to find a therapist to help me work through my anxieties and give my fiancé some space, not literal, to work through his, and then we'll revisit this conversation, hopefully with more patience on my part and willingness to act on his. Third edit, I know my title sucks, sorry, but I can't do anything about it now. It sounded fine at 6 a.m. when I made the post. Update posted September 16th, 2022. Update, I'm breaking

off my engagement because my fiancé might get sick in the future. Hi, remember me? I posted earlier this year about my fiancé who was refusing to get tested for Huntington's after learning he had a 50 to 50 chance of having the genetic defect. Some of you gave me great advice and support, others the wake-up call I needed, and the rest of you, well, read it gonna read it. I'm not sure if it was obvious, but I was not in a good place when I made that post. When I stress, I don't sleep or eat. For him, it may have only been a few weeks to accept the situation, but for me it was a few long weeks of non-stop anxiety where I was lucky to get even an hour of restless sleep a night. I was plain exhausted on top of everything else and only began to consider

leaving when I started to hit my breaking point. Anyway, we talked about it, at length, we cried, we fought, we researched, I showed him empathy, we consulted with friends, family, and specialists, we pressed pause for days or weeks when we needed a break from the whole damn thing. And in the end he agreed to have the test. Guys, to say we dodged an absolute maelstrom of bullets would be putting it mildly, he's negative both for developing the disease himself as well as the risk of passing it on, no matter what else happens, this is one area where he's assuredly safe. All of this said, once the euphoria faded we decided it was necessary to put a hold on our engagement and take some time apart. I still love him with all my heart, but this was our first serious disagreement

as a couple and it forced us to seriously reflect on ourselves and our relationship. Neither of our positions were wrong, but they were so disparate that there was no realistic compromise. I've spent the last few months traveling abroad, and other than a few texts we haven't spoken much, but I'm home now, and we have our second first date tonight. Wish me luck. Edits I mentioned this a million times in my first post, but here goes again. I had no plans to leave if he tested positive. I just needed to know so that we could plan our lives accordingly.

We decided together to take a break. It's been an incredibly difficult, emotionally charged roller coaster of a year. I didn't leave him. We planned from day one to keep communication to a minimum. It was difficult. I actually began keeping a journal of all the things I wanted to call or text him about. It's extensive and I can't wait to share it with him. I didn't give him an ultimatum.

But I understand why that's the takeaway. I only told Reddit that I was thinking of leaving and I know that it was rational, irrational. No, I'm not going to kill myself. Sorry if that disappoints you. Why does everyone seem to think that traveling means sleeping around? Just gonna leave a little timeline here for those of you who think I've been traveling since my last post. He learned that he was at risk of developing HD. I posted on Reddit when I reached my own breaking point and needed to vent about how I was affected.

We spent the next three-ish months discussing next steps, consulting professionals, meeting others in our situation. He made his own decision to get tested. That took a while, since there are a lot of steps you have to go through before they'll even agree to do it. We learned he's negative. We rode the emotional high for a bit, then realized we weren't the same people we were at the beginning of the year, and no longer knew how to be together normally given everything we learned about ourselves and each other during the hardest of situations.

We decided to take a break and meet for dinner on September 16th. I'm now getting ready to leave for said dinner. I meant to say this last time too, thank you to all of you who are sharing your stories about HD, chronic illness, and love. I'm sorry I haven't responded to everyone, but I'm reading all of them and wishing you and your loved ones nothing but health and happiness. Additional update in the comments. Op also found this post and left a comment. Oh my God, I'm so happy I found this post.

After losing an entire day to defending myself on Reddit, my own fault, LOL, it happened last time too, the positive tone. Here is amazing. Thank you all for reading and commenting. I promise I'll come back tomorrow to let you know how our date when I have butterflies and I can't remember the last time I felt like this. Our slash true-off Mitch's doesn't allow links, so I hope you guys don't mind if I leave this here. I've been completely humbled by this disease, and we're one of the lucky ones. Second update posted September 17th, 2022. Second update, I'm breaking off my engagement because my fiancé might get sick in the future. No, I'm not. This is about our date this title continues to be embarrassingly bad, and now irrelevant, but I kind of feel like I'm stuck with it now, sorry. If you're new here, my fiancé found out he was at risk of developing Huntington's

disease, I wanted him to get tested and he did not. Months later, he did and thank God, he was negative, the whole thing put such a strain on us that we decided to take a break, last night, we went on our second first date. And I can't believe how many of you want to hear about it. Of course I couldn't leave you hanging, but there are a few things I want to address first, so please bear with me for a few more sentences. It feels like many of you are determined for there to be a bad guy, but please don't put this label on my fiancé. He doesn't deserve it. He's not a jerk, an asshole, or an ostrich. He's a man who was suddenly forced to face his own mortality. He had a very human response, and I didn't make it any easier on him during those first few weeks.

On that note, it's great that so many of you guys always react perfectly to every tough situation life throws at you. I'm sadly not like that. Sometimes I fuck up like I did by not initially giving him enough time to process, but I owned up to that, took several steps back, and he forgave me. I don't know what else you want from me. Lastly, there are a lot of comments about how the obvious compromise was to just act like he had it. But you know what? It was the idea of living like he was dying that actually drove him get tested. He didn't want us to unnecessarily save half our paychecks instead of using them to enjoy life, or deal with the complications of IVF if we don't have two, or forego opportunities that didn't play

nicely with the end-of-life care plans we'd be making. Essentially, he concluded, in his words, that the cat was already halfway out of the bag and it could come out, but it was never going back in. If he was positive, we'd be obsessing over every little thing being a possible symptom. But if we left things as they were, we'd be doing that anyway. That doesn't mean it was easy at all. We actually had to make a second appointment to get the results because he couldn't bring himself to hear them the first time. But that was okay, I was there for him the whole time to support him however he needed me to. Okay. I'm done with that, onto what you actually clicked for.

Do you guys know the feeling of watching your favorite childhood movie for the first time in years and being nervous that it won't hold up or have the same magic you remember? That's kind of what I was feeling yesterday, and I actually have to thank everyone jumping down my third. throat in the comments because you did a great job of distracting me from the butterflies in my stomach. Well, the magic was still there. We may have spent months apart, but it didn't feel that way at all. In fact, everything felt even better and more comfortable than when we parted. We felt like the happy couple we'd been back in January before this whole thing started. It was like there was a weight hanging over our relationship that was keeping us from actually moving forward

despite the good news, and it's finally been lifted. Before last night, I couldn't remember the last time anything with him felt bright and easy, but we're back, baby. I know the general consensus was that this was a dumb move, that we should have opted for marriage counseling instead of going our own. Ways for a bit, I'm not a relationship counselor, I'm not recommending this method to anyone, I don't know why it worked for us. All I know is that we were both so drained at the time and we each had the same gut feeling that a complete separation was what we needed, our relationship had become far more exhausting than Fawn and I honestly believe that we wouldn't have made it if we'd forced ourselves to work together to fix it. Again, don't take relationship advice from me, but trust your

instincts you have them for a reason. And I'm sure you'll be happy to know that he wasn't sitting at home pining for me while I traipsed around Europe not having intimacy with people. He was busy with his own adventure he bought a car, we live in Manhattan, so that's a pretty big thing, and and road-tripped across the country. We stayed up all night sharing stories and pictures and telling each other about the people we'd met. It was absolutely amazing sharing our experiences with each other. I know it may seem like it would have been better if we'd done it together, but there was something really special about living it through each other's eyes. Anyway, we have the rest of our lives to travel the world together. Because we're not breaking up, suck on that people who were hoping

he'd leave me. Look, we know this new honeymoon period wherein won't last forever. but I really think we're prepared to handle whatever other challenges life tries to throw at us. Honestly, there's a pretty good chance we've already gotten through the worst one, knock wood, but even if there's something bigger and badder waiting for us, I'm completely optimistic will be okay. So, that's that, we've officially reached the other side of our first major life issue together. Did either of us behave perfectly? No, are we going to be perfect next time? probably not. Are we 100% committed to combining our completely opposite ways of dealing with crises into a superpower designed to crush conflict like a 90s cartoon? Absolutely. Thanks for listening to

my story everyone. Roll credits.