DEAR ABBY: I am a young single mother of two wonderful children, yet I feel like a part of me is lost. I have been separated for nearly three years and am nearing the finalization of a divorce. There has been only one meeting between us in that time, and I am fine with the divorce. I have considered myself divorced all this time. Yet, the thought of actually signing those papers makes me literally ill.
Why is this? I am no longer in love with him, and I know I'm better off now, alone and making it on my own. Yet the feeling that it is final is haunting me for some reason. -- SCATTERBRAINED IN THE SOUTH
DEAR SCATTERBRAINED: Would it help you feel less "scatterbrained" to know that your feelings are normal? All of them? At one time you committed yourself fully to the man you married and to the dream of "happily ever after." Signing the divorce papers severs your last tie to your husband and closes the door behind you, even though you exited the marriage three years ago.
Please do not be afraid to sign the papers. Look at it from this perspective: One door closes, another one opens, and it is the door to your future. I wish you the best of luck and happiness in the years to come.