LIVE. LAUGH. LOVE.

Not silver lining, but for context: my fiancee left me in 2015 for a married man she met on Facebook. It killed me. My GPA dropped from 3.8 to 2.0 and I suffered an academic suspension. I slipped into a series of major depressive episodes and could barely speak. That's not an exaggeration. She was the only person I had ever loved. 5 years later she left me out of the blue six months before we were to be married.

Last month I met a woman who I was convinced was too good for me. She's beautiful, smarter than anyone I've ever met, and so kind I was frankly suspicious at first. We've dated for the past month, and today I finally broke and told her how I felt.

I was expecting confusion, and instead I got reciprocation.

I know it's not as big a deal as publishing your first novel, or getting married-- but I had honestly forgotten what happiness felt like until just an hour ago and I can't stop crying.

I don't feel like I deserve to be this happy.

I'm broken in the best possible way, and I had to tell someone.

They're out there, no matter how worthless you think you are. They are!