{"id":5629,"date":"2018-10-23T16:12:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/?p=5629"},"modified":"2018-10-23T16:13:28","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T16:13:28","slug":"first-single-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2018\/10\/first-single-birthday.html","title":{"rendered":"My First Single Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"

I woke up yesterday with one thought.<\/p>\n

I’m finally single.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Happy Birthday to me!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sure, technically it happened in June but with all of the contempt charges and house sale resistance, it felt anything but liberating.<\/p>\n

\"pexels-photo-302561\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was no time to finally feel single.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In actuality, I’m not really sure what this means.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Or just how I will attack this new adventure.<\/p>\n

Will I try speed dating? Or perhaps go to ‘Just Lunch?’\u00a0<\/em>Play some singles kickball, sign up for Match or try a few blind dates? Buy a couple of new sassy outfits? That of course, would require losing what I now refer to as thirty pounds of ‘Ralph.’ And then there’s always matchmaking.<\/p>\n

The possibilities are endless.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can log onto Facebook and switch my\u00a0relationship status to single.<\/em><\/p>\n

And of course, I did just that only to realize I must have deleted my marital status when I initiated my divorce. Alas, the social media world will not hear me proclaim my new found independence. It somehow seems anti-climactic declaring myself single rather than switching from married to single.<\/p>\n

I can sit and watch\u00a0A Star is Born<\/em> and ugly cry with no one shooshing me.<\/p>\n

I can wear red lipstick while I sip pink champagne.<\/p>\n

My birthday belongs to me again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I get to choose my tomorrows.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The hard-fought single world is now my oyster.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scratch that.<\/em><\/p>\n

The world is again my oyster.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Happy Birthday to me!<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow me on Facebook @Colleen Orme National Columnist<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Photo Courtesy of Pexels)<\/p>\n

Instagram @colleenorme<\/p>\n

Twitter @colleenorme
\nE-mail: Colleen.Sheehy.Orme@gmail.com<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I woke up yesterday with one thought. I’m finally single. Happy Birthday to me! Sure, technically it happened in June but with all of the contempt charges and house sale resistance, it felt anything but liberating. There was no time to finally feel single.\u00a0 In actuality, I’m not really sure what this means. Or just…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":613,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,176],"tags":[110,4],"class_list":["post-5629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-divorce-2","category-relationships","tag-new-beginnings","tag-relationships"],"yoast_head":"\nMy First Single Birthday - How Great Thou Part<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2018\/10\/first-single-birthday.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My First Single Birthday - How Great Thou Part\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I woke up yesterday with one thought. I’m finally single. Happy Birthday to me! Sure, technically it happened in June but with all of the contempt charges and house sale resistance, it felt anything but liberating. There was no time to finally feel single.\u00a0 In actuality, I’m not really sure what this means. 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