One night...

She sat down at the hotel bar between two tired businessmen. This wasn't something she normally did, but she figured she should celebrate her achievement. She had wanted this all her life and had worked solidly for three years to make it happen. She ordered a martini and began to have polite conversation with the men.

As the evening went on, she began to converse more with the man to her left. They discussed career, children, marriage. He shared with her how the course of his life had went. She shared with him hers. There was not a hint of flirting between the two of them. After the second martini, she shared some of the struggles she was having in her personal life. He listened intently and asked questions. He predicted that within a year she would know what direction to go in. She didn't know what to think about that. To her, there seemed no answer.

After the effects of the third martini began to hit her, she excused herself and went to her room. She laid on the bed and thought about the conversation with the man. She couldn't remember the last time a man had listened to her with interest even though she had been married for many years. She began to sob. She felt consumed with loneliness. She cried herself to sleep.

The next morning she got on a plane and went home. She thought about her reaction to the man. Though she felt sad, she put it aside. She worked hard in the next several months to grow her business and it constantly amazed her that her dream had become a reality. Still, she dreaded going home. If it were not for her children she wouldn't have.

Some 20 months later she was painting her office while singing along with her favorite music. She was thinking back on the past couple of years and all that had happened. She remembered that night in the hotel and what the man had said. She was stunned to realize that she had made the decision to leave that unhappy marriage almost exactly to the day a year later. Her life had changed tremendously. Some struggles still remained. There were remnants of the abuse that she had suffered left. However, she was deeply happy that she had gathered the last bits of self-preservation left in her to move on. She had realized that no matter how uncertain she had been that night that within her there was a woman who was strong enough to face whatever challenges were ahead in order to have what she deserved.

Silently, she thanked the man.