After 25 years of marriage to a malignant narcissist, I finally realized it was time to walk away. I loved him, but I was losing myself—little by little, piece by piece. When I shared my decision with a friend who had been divorced for 16 years, she said, “Just know, it will hurt for 16+ years.” Her words stopped me in my tracks. I could hear the pain still living inside her—the betrayal, abandonment, grief, and anger. She had every right to feel it, but for the first time, I saw how unresolved pain could slowly destroy the person carrying it. And something inside me lit up. I knew there was no way I was going to spend years lost in devastating pain and loss.

That realization became a mission: I would grieve, but I would not lose myself in my grief. Divorce can be a heartbreak as profound as death—the death of a dream, a future, a family story, and a life you thought would last forever. But I also discovered that endings can hold the seeds of something extraordinary. Through the grief, the healing, and the painful process of finding myself again, I began to understand that divorce can also become a rebirth. The Return to You was born from that journey: an invitation to honor what was lost without allowing it to define what comes next, to reclaim the parts of yourself you thought were gone, and to discover that there can be light, meaning, and a beautiful new beginning on the other side of heartbreak.