Meet Nicola and Gilly who believes their story feels like a fairy tale! đłď¸âđ
I first met Gilly some 12 years ago, I felt a connection back then and I think she did too but I was fresh out of my marriage to my children's father and she had her own stuff going on. Looking back, we agree now, that even if we had have hooked up at that point it wouldn't have lasted because we both had some self discovery to do.Â
We stayed as friends, she moved away, we interacted on Facebook every now and then, and we each just did our thing. Until about a year ago when we found ourselves both single and both having discovered who we were and what we wanted. Flirtation turned into a tentative date, which developed into a few more dates and we became "official" early last June.
I'm bisexual, and up until a couple of years ago it was only my mum, my exes, a few select friends that knew. I didn't even realise that it was a thing until 2006, when i was 26. Till then I thought your were either gay or straight. Naive!!Â
I had 2 kids already with my then husband and we went on to have a third in 2007. The kids didn't know, nor did they need to know. I felt like I was guarding them from a dirty little secret, and the internal shame continued.
Until about 2 years ago, in a casual conversation with my two eldest children about sexuality i told them I was bi. They didn't bat an eyelid. I've raised them to understand there are boys who fancy boys, and girls who fancy girls. So I just don't think it was "a thing" for me to have said it.
When I was going to meet Gilly for our first date on 13th March last year, I told the kids I was just meeting up with her, then after that they knew we were dating...and now they see her as part of the family.
I feel extremely lucky to have found my soul mate, and to no longer have that secret. I'm no "gay icon" but I hope that other parents who feel like I used to can see that our kids don't need to be protected, and that they deserve to feel happy and loved without shame.
"Nicolas recently posted on social media"
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