After lifetimes of love and loss, and a whirlwind journey on"The Golden Bachelor," Theresa Nist, left, and Gerry Turner walked down the aisle earlier this year.From the first episode of “The Golden Bachelor,” it was clear that one of the overarching themes of the season was going to be hope.
I got divorced when I was 37 after a 13-year marriage. As the single mother of two elementary school-age children, I hardly remembered how to be single, let alone how to date. When I finally gave in to the nudges of my friends and jumped into online dating, one bad date after another made me wonder if I would ever find love again — if I’d ever find happiness again.
But overwhelmingly, the opposite seemed to happen. Despite being eliminated, so many of the women who didn’t receive that final rose spoke of their renewed optimism and hope, like Ellen Goltzer, the first woman to declare that she was falling in love with Turner.after Turner sent her home.
I don’t say that because in the interview Nist came right out and stated “don’t give up” and “stay hopeful.” I say it because, as I learned from my own divorce, knowing it’s time to end a relationship that isn’t working is an act of hope. It is the kind of hope that comes from not wasting any more time in an unhappy marriage. Hope that better things can be found elsewhere and with another person. Hope that the lessons learned from the relationship can be brought into the next one.