Note to younger self: avoid dating a fellow employee at all costs. — Long before #MeToo made it verboten to date your coworker, I dated a guy from my office. He was cute and we had a lot in common. If you think about it, dating someone from your workplace most likely means you have a lot in common. In my case, I…

I’ll never marry a man who wants a fancy wedding again. — My fiancé’s father turned to me: “So how much money are you going to contribute to the wedding?” We were sitting on the couch in my fiancé’s family’s living room in the mansion where they live. My fiancé had just met with a “florist to the stars,” an expensive caterer…

I’m working through my anger about my financial situation as a divorced woman. — The drive to get to my ex-husband’s new home takes me up a steep, winding road. I drive from the tiny, two-bedroom apartment where I live in an urban part of the city, into the lush foothills, past the vast, green stretches of land, and the baronial houses perched on…

I didn’t want to be coached on how to stay married to my husband but on how to leave him. — My husband and I arrived at our appointment with our new marriage therapist, completely at odds. A few days before I’d told him I wanted a divorce. He responded by freaking out and booking an appointment with this therapist. He wanted us to stay together. I wanted out of our…

Why live in a big house when the person you love most isn’t there? — When I divorced my husband, I left behind a life in a large, four-bedroom house. I moved with our children into a tiny, two-bedroom apartment. My ex also moved into a small, one-bedroom place. Luckily, the kids didn’t complain about not living with their dad anymore. He didn’t have the…

He would have wasted the money I was saving for both of us. — My husband phoned me while he was in Arizona with our children. We both typically live in L.A. in separate homes, but he had taken our kids on a trip. He was calling to notify me that he only had $25 in his bank account. I felt many things when…

He put his family ahead of my wellbeing. — I remember lying on the floor, my face against the carpet. My one-year-old son was next to me, playing with his toy trains. As a child with ADHD, who was already expressing signs of hyperactivity by six months of age, he was uncharacteristically calm at this moment. I wondered how…

Some people never change — I showed up at my ex-husband’s house the other day to drop off our children. Luckily, my ex and I are getting along much better than we were when we first divorced. He’s remarried and is much happier. Because of that, I’m happier, too. Because my ex and I are…

Because then they’ll know the truth about where we live. — My son has autism, which makes it very challenging for him to have friends. It was tragic for me to watch him during his early years at school. Other kids would say “hello” to him and he’d just ignore them. Or in response to their “hello,” he’d point out the…