How divorce saved my marriage

The thing about marriage is, one day you are going to convince yourself that you got it all wrong.

Why did I marry this person? How could I have been so foolish? How could I have missed the signs?

If we're honest, we ALL have second thoughts. That means we're actually taking the commitment seriously.

But romantic love, if charted long enough, always leads to a moment of great decision: Should we stay together?

Truthfully, my husband and I's third year of marriage was awful. Terrible.

Then, we had babies - a lovely four-year distraction from actually having to communicate.

So, inevitably, the same ol' conflicts resurfaced. Only, this time, we involved attorneys.

He was angry. I was depressed. And our children's innocence was sacrificed on the altar of whoever was right that week.

At our final court hearing, in front of a stack of stapled papers, my husband and I stared down our fate in the privacy of a small conference room.

Assets. Custody. Child support.

Mediation, individual counselling, and separation had not brought our four-month battle any closer to an end.

With fatigued eyes, my husband pushed the pile to the side:

"Lauren, it's just you and me."

The night before, I had written him an e-mail titled I love you., where I reflected on our nearly decade-long relationship.

From the floor of his hotel bathroom, he responded three hours later: "I love you, too."

It seems that we both had been waiting for the other person to give in.

So right there - in the midst of our final morning as husband and wife - we dismissed our divorce.

In the moments that followed, we briefly met with our attorneys and signed final paperwork. $12,988, this is how much it cost to save our marriage.

But here is perhaps the greatest story:

Two people met.

Two people fell in love.

Two people made beautiful children.

Two people broke each other's hearts.

But two people chose to love again.