My Life Without You

Authors Note to Reader

Redemption & Forgiveness

My Life Without You is not about hating or loving a character. In this story, we find a woman who is torn between two men. Both men play a major role in her life that you can not erase. Valerie was created to speak on topics that are not always easy to speak on or acknowledge.

Before judging the main character, what do I see when I write her story. I see a woman that has humanistic traits. She is flawed, which every person is—No matter the device used, she has a flaw that she can't undo. Her past sexual abuse also plays a major part in her actions.

Themes; man vs self, moral conflicts, infidelity; abuse, forgiveness, & redemption are in the story.

In a world where we are judged by the color of our skin, our sexual orientation, and by the choices we make in life, people flaws are the first thing we see and immediately judge. We don't take the time out to understand others, have empathy, or understand their flaws. The truth is... We are all flawed. With our own set of issues that we have either overcame in our life, or are trying to overcome.

I could have wrote the story from a different perspective (the husband cheating) which has been told a thousand times. However, this story is not about accepting infidelity from men because we assume that this is what men do. It is not about creating a story of bashing men for being unfaithful, but instead about one woman's journey of forgiveness, both with herself and with others.

Women are judged harshly for being unfaithful, but in our society today, it is not uncommon for women to forgive their husbands for cheating, even when it leads to him having a baby outside his marriage.

Both men and women have their flaws, and all people need help overcoming trials, tribulations, hurt, and temptation.

Many people have been hurt by infidelity, however, that doesn't mean people can be forgiven. Have we been a victim —the victimizer— or the person that has stood by and judged?

We live in a society that oftentimes its socially accepted for a man to cheat on his woman but its a crime when a woman do it to a man.

Rick has forgiven his ex-wife. Have you forgiven her? Or are you still condemning her for her flaws? Life is about forgiveness.

Remember the song by India Ire: Wings of forgiveness? This song was perfect for this story and spoke to the themes of redemption & forgiveness. I felt there was no other choice to be made when choosing a song that embodies the messages of this story. So thank you Ms. India Ire for blessing us with such a strong-powerful & beautiful song.

Rick has forgiven Val... And Val has forgiven herself.

Take the time to heal...Forgive yourself & forgive someone else.

I pay homage to India Ire. She is a pillar in many communities and gives messages of self-love, inner beauty, & other positive messages such as, forgiveness. The song mentioned in this story is called Wings of Forgiveness. The message to forgive is deep and powerful. Only some are able to truly master the gift of forgiveness. This song, however, I felt was not just about forgiving others but also forgiving ones self. Take a listen to the song here and see can you also hear a message to forgive your self from your flaws—what ever they may be.

I do not own the rights to this song. Video created by Sasha Deneah.

This artist (India Ire) is mentioned here to pay homage to and to spread her message of forgiveness.

Forgive and be healed.

Adrienne Edwards
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