Celebrity Single Mom of the Week: Garcelle Beauvais



In an entry on her awesome People.com-hosted blog, actress Garcelle Beauvais talks becoming a single mother to twins in the wake of a very public split:

I thought I had won the lotto in husbands. Caring? Check. Attentive? Check. Loyal? Well, un-check.

It only took one text message to change my life. That’s when I discovered my loving husband had been unfaithful. His infidelities ended our marriage.

The shock was like a freight train hitting me. The pain was unimaginable. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to exit my body like a character in a cartoon.

I had so many questions. What happens next? Do I stay for the sake of the kids? Do I stay because, well, that’s what some women do? And oh my God, what do I do with all of this anger?

This wasn’t my first rodeo. Unfortunately, I’m no stranger to divorce. My parents split up when I was 3 years old, and I lived with my mother. (In those days, you lived with one parent, and I didn’t see my dad throughout most of my childhood.)

Then, my first marriage to Oliver’s father didn’t work out. But I still clung to my dream of having an intact family. I wanted it more than anything.

I realized part of my self-esteem was tied to being a wife. But ultimately, I made the decision to leave my marriage. It was especially tough because I adored the idea of a whole family — but I love my children way more than I hate his betrayal.