Chapter 28: The Survivor's Manifesto

Chapter 28: The Survivor's Manifesto

That day, at last, we were able to speak openly, without kept secrets and without the constant fear of saying something that could hurt each other's heartstrings. We met in the purest honesty of pain. We were completely liberated in the same stone place where it had all begun and where our respective pasts lay buried under the Arctic soil. At that summit of Dyrhólaey, we put the definitive end to the stories that destroyed us.

It is extremely comforting to look back and understand the process. Going through pain of this magnitude, a suffering that tears away your identity, requires going through several physical and emotional stages to be able to cope with a separation. I thank God that mine was quick in all the chaos. I know that if Anthony and I had had children, divorce and detachment would have been a thousand times harder, but fate didn't want it that way. Now there are no chains; Now I'm the sole owner of my life again.

To all those women who are going through the same thing as me, or something similar, I want to say with my heart in my hand: yes it can be done. With or without children, we can do it. Don't let anyone tell you that you are finished. Cry as much as you have to cry, heal your wounds at your own pace, and then live. Rebuild on foundations that are much stronger than the previous ones, foundations that no one can tear down again.

Thus ended my stay in Norway. Leaving behind the beach of Vik that served as a purgatory, we set off. Now I'm on my way to Iceland with Ethan by my side.

My nerves are on edge, a tingle in my stomach that mixes fear of the unknown with an electric thrill. It was ten hours of travel in total between connections and roads, but the journey felt like a dream. Before my eyes unfolded wonderful landscapes, lava fields covered in green moss, towering waterfalls tumbling from black mountains, and glaciers glistening in a pale sun. Where were these movie places hidden? The north is beautiful, and it's a huge blessing if you have the financial resources to be able to treat yourself to such a retreat and recover away from the noise of your old life.