I gave the old lady some change every day. One day she stopped me and said, “Don’t go home tonight.”That was how Simone Lawson would later describe the day everything in her life changed. Simone woke up to the sound of her alarm and for a few seconds couldn’t figure out where she was.The empty half of the bed reminded her that the divorce had been finalized three months ago. The apartment in Atlanta belonged only to her now. Darnell had moved in with his new partner.

At thirty-five, her life felt split into a before and an after. Before, there had been twelve years of marriage, shared plans, and joint trips to his parents’ place outside the city, where she dutifully weeded the garden while he drank beer with his friends. After all that, there was just this one-bedroom apartment, the silence, and the necessity of starting over.

She got up, pulled on her robe, and went to the kitchen. The kettle boiled fast, the only thing in the entire apartment that worked flawlessly. Simone made herself coffee, looked out the window at the gray April morning over Atlanta, Georgia, and sighed.Welcome to Betty’s Stories. I share new life stories here every day, and I’d really appreciate it if you hit subscribe and liked this video. Now, let’s jump back into my story.