Published in Meridian Magazine by Lisa McDougle One thousand cried out in want of a voice, their pleas desperate for understanding and validation. It seemed behind each statistic and checked box was a shattered human being who felt lost of all sense of value in the world, in their relationships, and even in their ward families. The words “outcast,” “cipher,” “misfit,” and even “plague” jumped out at me. What was this so-called condition that so isolated them from the associations that they had once enjoyed? Leprosy? Chicken Pox? No, the devastating “plague” of divorce. The survey was born of my own heartbreak after divorcing, and wondering how, when I needed comfort and support the most, I felt suddenly alone in the world? In 2011, after 32 years of marriage, I got out of an unhealthy marriage only to find myself on a deserted Island, so to speak. Friends, family, and ward members seemed to go in to hiding the moment I found myself in unchartered territory. Not only did I fee...
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