It’s fall, my favorite time of year. I love the crisp air, the turning of the leaves and the anticipation of cold nights spent sipping cocoa while nestled safely in a warm blanket. Lately, though, it has also become my least favorite time of year.

I met my ex during the fall season and over the years it had become a season we truly looked forward to. Each fall we would make a trip to a local orchard where we would buy homemade pies, donuts and hot apple cider. While traveling to the orchard we would usually stop by a pumpkin patch to pick up a few pumpkins, try to get lost in a corn maze or even take a haunted hayride.

We would pick a perfect fall day for our outing: a sunny, yet chilly day so that the homemade apple cider would taste especially good. Sometimes we would even take a little road trip to New England and stay at a bed and breakfast, and in the morning we would grab coffee and go walking to look at the turning leaves.

This will be my first fall as a divorced woman. I can feel the air is growing cooler and I see the leaves are starting to turn. It hurts when I think about what has been lost, but I know that I must remain strong and focused on the future.

It is time that I turn over a new leaf of my own.