June 5th, 2017 was a milestone day for our family. It has been 365 days since Lizze moved back home, with me and our boys. This move ended our almost two year separation. 

You can read earlier posts about what life was like prior to one year ago. I’ll try and give some brief background for all those new to our story, before updating on our current status. 

Our separation basically resulted from a combination of caregiver burnout, along with both mental, and physical illness. Lizze went through a very difficult period, and we later discovered this was in large part due to caregiver burnout. 

Essentially, she ran herself into the ground, caring for our family.

Caregiver burnout is very real, and results from someone putting so much into caring for someone else, they forget to take care of themselves. Over time, this can have a devastating impact on the physical, and mental health of the caregiver. 

During this two year period of time, I was a single parent, raising all three boys on my own. It was the toughest thing I have ever done, but it was what I had to do. I learned a great deal about myself along the way. 

Lizze and I weren’t always on the best of terms during our separation,  but I tried very hard not to let that impact anything.  I knew something wasn’t right. Lizze and I have been together for most of my adult life, and for her to leave like she did, meant something was very wrong. We’d never had any marriage problems before, and this came out of nowhere, surprising everyone in our lives.