one of the greatest days of my life

my brother got divorced today.

for those of you who don't know, he married his ex-wife, cheryl van pelt, on june 16, 2007. it was a marriage planted in very poor soil and needless to say, within months - arguably, shorter than months - withered to a brown, burnt crisp. the thought of divorce began to swirl about in december of 2007. after many attempts to save the marriage, the realization that it was hopeless settled upon them, and divorce proceedings began.

why is this one of the greatest days of my life? this is a valid question. in a nutshell, miss van pelt has hurt my brother, my family and myself immensely over the course of time that she has been in my brother's life. she has attempted to numb the soul of my brother, has insulted my parents, has alienated my aunt, and has demeaned and disrespected me for a year and a half straight. i tried time and time again to foster a positive relationship with her, but was only rejected and hurt some more.

because she was my brother's partner, i took a lot more than i should have. in fact, i never once made an issue out of the way she treated me, even though i was extremely hurt in many cases. i kept treating her kindly, trying to be the better person, trying to be understanding.

i didn't understand why god was putting me through this. i was enraged by some of the incidents that had occurred. i felt belittled and worthless. all i wanted to do was act out at her. scream in her face until she heard every word i had ever suppressed about her. but again - she was my brother's partner. how could i defend myself without causing a rift, either between them or between me and him? i didn't want to take the risk, so i chose to remain silent.

and all the while i prayed, silently, that this would somehow get resolved. all the while, they planned their wedding. more incidents occurred. months came and went and her insanely moody behavior continued and got worse. once they were married, she exploded from worse to horrifying.

i was a wreck with regard to all of this. in my mind, i was now stuck with this person as a member of my family forever. i would have to bite my tongue and allow myself to be insulted on a regular basis just to keep the peace. i kept asking god why? simply that. why?

i never did anything to hurt or upset cheryl despite what she did to me and my family. never partook in some revenge scheme. i just sat on by, praying that it would somehow get better.

and it did.

today is june 30, 2008, and as of 12:30 pm, my brother is officially divorced from this woman who has swept into our lives with nothing but destruction on her mind and heart. once my brother began to question his happiness, i finally began to tell him how i really felt about cheryl, and i began to cite some incidents that had occurred. but i was always honest, never manipulative or attempting to hurt anyone. and all on its own, the marriage began to unravel. he began to see her true colors.

so i sit here today feeling like through all of this time, god was watching. god saw that my family and i are good people and aren't out to hurt anyone, and god saw cheryl's unjust antics. so god made her antics backfire on her while meanwhile protecting us.

i don't know, but this is just one of those situations where i feel like there is divine intervention going on. i feel defended, strong and validated. through this i have learned to trust in god even when things are bleakest.

to quote the song 'faithful' that we sang in our gospel choir: "and i rejoice today cause i have recovered it all."

thank you, to everyone who supported me through the last 2+ years (namely jenn and my mother). thank you to my brother, steven, who listened when i talked to him and who had the strength to go through with something many people wouldn't have. and thank you to the divine, to god, to whatever you want to call it, who has whipped up the most beautiful bowl of just desserts anyone could have ever dreamed of.

life, my friends, is good.