by Gladys Diaz

My first husband was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 25. When he was 28, the cancer came back after being in remission, and it was spreading fast.  One day I walked into the hospital room and saw the look on everyone’s faces.  I could tell it wasn’t good news.  The doctors said there was nothing else they could do for him and recommended we put him in hospice.

I was angry, terrified, and my heart was broken!  Why was this happening? We were so happy and so young! This was unfair!

After everyone left, we barely spoke.  The sadness hung in the room and we just lay next to each other in his hospital bed.  The next day, we had a conversation that I will never forget for as long as I live.  During our talk, we thanked each other for every good thing we had brought into one another’s lives.  We asked for forgiveness and forgave.  We talked about how upset and sad we were and he asked me to forgive him for not being able to fight the cancer.  He’d done his best.  Then he spoke words that, for me, will always signify the epitome of unconditional love.

He told me he wanted me to be happy. He wanted me to live, and laugh and love again.  He said he knew there was someone out there for me, and he wanted me to make that man as happy as I’d made him.  He told me I deserved to be loved and that I’d find him sooner than I thought.  Then he said, “When you meet him, you’ll just know that he’s the one I’m telling you about.  You’ll know I helped him find you.”

I didn’t want to hear those words.  I wanted to hear how our prayers were going to be answered, how we were going to beat the odds and fight this monster together.  I didn’t want to find or love anyone else!  I wanted us to have the life we’d planned and dreamed of together!

I didn’t say any of this.  Instead, when he asked me if I would promise him that I would do everything I could to be happy again, l went against everything my heart and mind were telling me, and I said, “I promise.”

He died in my arms 2 days later, and I felt as if every one of my hopes, dreams and plans for the future died with him. As I grieved the loss of my love and the life I’d hoped to live, I’d often think about what he told me and the promise I made, but part of me just couldn’t believe that I would ever find love– not that kind of love – again.

About ten months later, I got the courage to accept a date from a guy who stood me up!  My friend and I went out dancing so that I wouldn’t stay home and gather more evidence that I’d end up alone.  And that’s the night life gave me one of its unexpected surprises – the good kind – this time!

Ric and I have been together for almost 14 years, and we have what I like to refer to as “an extraordinary love.” We have created a beautiful family with two little boys who have taught me to never underestimate the human heart’s capacity to love!

Every day, I fulfill the promise I made to my first husband. I live, I laugh, and I love.  I honor his memory and what we shared by living this promise.  And I’m beyond grateful that I have been blessed enough to experience true love twice in a lifetime!

What about you? Are you afraid that you won’t find true love again?  Are you afraid that you let “The One” get away?  Are you grieving the loss of your love, hopes, and dreams – either from a breakup, divorce, or loss of a partner or spouse?  I’m here to tell you that we live in a world that is abundantly full of love and possibilities, and, you, too can experience love again! Join me and 20 amazing experts – Heart Messengers – for the “From Heartache to Your Heart’s Desires” telesumummit as we discuss how to move beyond the pain and fear of heartache and toward a new life that is filled with the hope and the very real possibility of loving and being loved again!  Click here to join now!

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