I no longer needed to destroy every tender memory to justify protecting myself now.

A life could have been meaningful and still be over.

PART 18: The Final Papers

The divorce was finalized the following spring, after the attorneys completed the disclosures and the court approved our agreement.

We had been married more than two decades, so the ending did not fit neatly into a single morning.

There had been decisions about retirement accounts, insurance, debts, personal property, and support.

The house transfer had been settled earlier; other questions had taken longer.