I got engaged at 33. I didn't realize how amazing it was to be a single woman until I wasn't anymore.

"I got engaged at 33, and I definitely felt like a late bloomer . Since I already had a child from a previous relationship, I had established my independence as a single parent well before I found a partner. When I met my husband, I had owned my own home for about five years, and I was in my third year of teaching. I worked hard to provide for my son and me, but I was basically in survival mode."

"After my husband proposed, I sold my house and we moved into his While I had been anxious to be done with the responsibilities of homeownership, I didn't think carefully enough about what I was giving up. It wasn't just a physical space. It was a time when my son and I were a family of just the two of us. When we moved in with my husband, we became a family of three, forever changed."

Engagement occurred at age 33 after years of single parenting and established independence, including homeownership and a teaching career. Daily life had been survival-focused while supporting a young child alone. The relationship felt serious quickly and led to selling a personal home and moving into the partner's residence. The move relieved many household responsibilities but also removed a private period when the child and single parent were a family of two. Regret emerged about losing that uninterrupted one-on-one time and missing opportunities for more focused bonding before remarriage.

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