The Beginning of Cheryl's Next Chapter

It's been a while since I've posted anything here, mostly because it had been quiet on this western front.

Then, blam-o!

My divorce is final. The Court issued the divorce decree on August 20, 2008. I found out August 28, 2008, via my BlackBerry device. My attorney's office issued their final bill via e-mail on the 28th, for which I was extremely grateful. My attorney was totally kick-ass, but I paid for kick-ass.

During the e-mail exchange, I asked the paralegal if she had heard anything about the status of the Decree, and she replied generally the Decree takes about 4 - 6 weeks from the time the Praecipe is delivered to the Court. We had submitted the Praecipe about three weeks from August 28th, so I thought, ok, a few more weeks, and I can get closure. I had been told in other cases it may take as long as 3 months for this to occur, too, so I was relatively happy about the 4 - 6 week estimate. Not more than five minutes after the paralegal's e-mail, I received an e-mail from my attorney, saying she actually had the paper copy of my Divorce Decree, and I've been divorced since August 20th.

Huh. Interesting.

I stared at my BlackBerry screen for about five minutes. In my head, the Divorce Decree issuance would be documentation with a gold seal in a bulky package. Nope. Not in my county. A simple e-mail, followed by a single sheet of paper from the Court saying the marriage is dissolved.

Over ten years of marriage dissolved with a single piece of paper.

Poof.

Done.

What I thought would be an emotional breakdown was a shrug of the shoulders. Please understand: I am sad this had to be the way it was. But, as people told me, I knew it was coming, so I probably had enough time to process it, over-process it, and get the closure I needed by the time I received the official Decree.

So, August 20th marks the beginning of the next chapter of my life. Wife. Goes. On.