I believe in soul mates. But more so in the literal term. My soul is best mates with my husbands soul and I hope they will be for a long time.

I have been in love before. I am still unable to tell if it actually was love, or if it was pure infatuation. I committed myself to a man and in doing so I lost myself. The relationship turned violent, nasty and spiteful, not to mention he found sexual interests somewhere else. That was where I drew the line. After breaking up I found out that I was pregnant with his child. I kept it, but stayed spilt up.
Breaking up didn't remove myself from his control and I grieved for the life I thought we were going to have (note, not reality, but what I had dreamed). I understood him as a human being and I accepted him as a broken soul. I was willing to help but he was interested in telling me what I wanted to hear, hiding his true self from me in fear of looking weak and doing what he wanted when he wanted, regardless of who he hurt.

So pretty much after this I was broken. To me you have a child with someone, you are with them for life. You don't get a second chance, etc etc etc

Well I did. I met a wonderful man. A great friend and someone who I could have fun with, all the while knowing he was giving himself to me in a pure form. He didn't hide himself and he didn't pretend. He just was. And I just was to him. After a few months of good friendship things happened and we ended up together in a romantic sense and had no problems committing to each other.

We have been through a lot. Deal with my ex and all his bullshit in the 'father vs mother' sense; as well as his constant verbal and physical abuse. My husband was even threatened and physically assault by my ex and still didn't blame me, but stood by me and supported me. Not to mention other hurdles that life throws at you that are far too personal to put on the internet. We now have three children between us and he is a wonderful father and a magical husband.

Right now I don't think life can get much better, but I know it will. Purely because he is my mate in life and we work hard in making sure each of us are happy, healthy, enriched and supported.

We are that couple. The one in every circle of friends that people gag when they think of us. We have known each other for 7 years and been together in a romantic sense for 6 and a half.

THIS is real love. THIS is what they talk about when they speak of soul mates. Married or not, I am with my soul mate and I will be working very hard to make sure it is for life (and beyond if there ends up being something after)