Life is Delicious- Mindset Mastery, Midlife Empowerment, Joy, Purpose, Vitality, Inspiration, Women's Health

30: 104 Love Lessons- Finding True Love in Midlife with Heidi Friedman

• Marnie Martin- Midlife Mentor, Empowerment Coach, Happiness Expert, Best Selling Author

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What if your path to real love started with an honest confession: I don’t know what love really feels like? That’s where attorney and author Heidi B. Freeman began, turning a divorce into a decade-long experiment in connection—104 dates, interviews with couples across ages and backgrounds, and a journal that captured both the loneliness and the breakthroughs that followed. We walk through her most hard-won lessons, the ones that turned frustration into clarity and eventually into a marriage that fits.

We unpack the difference between standards and rules, and why dropping rigid limits can open doors you didn’t know existed. Heidi shares why “don’t settle” isn’t a slogan but a practice: short first meetings, honest no’s instead of ghosting, and listening to red flags before they cost you years. We talk about being happy alone without closing your heart, using dating apps as practice while prioritizing real-life chemistry, and how to expand your circle beyond the friends who already know you. There’s also a candid look at blended families, co-parenting values, and the kind of partner who supports your ambitions instead of shrinking them.

Threaded through the story is a reminder that luck and timing matter—but only when you’re in motion. From yoga studios to running groups to chance introductions, Heidi shows how showing up creates serendipity. If you’re starting again, dating in midlife, or trying to strengthen the relationship you’re in, you’ll leave with a practical toolkit: be the partner you seek, trust your gut, say what you mean, and keep your world big. Enjoy the conversation, then share it with someone who needs a nudge to believe that better love is possible. If you did, would you stop and take five minutes to leave me a review on Apple Podcasts?
Head over to lifeisdelicious.ca and sign up for email updates so you’ll get notified every time a new episode drops and I’ll send you a free copy of my ebook, The Midlife Manifesto

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SPEAKER_00:

Hey beautiful friends, it's Marnie. Welcome back to the show. Today we are going to be talking about something that everybody can relate to and everybody looks for. The topic of true love. So, as a single gal myself, I, for one, am super excited to bring this guest to all of you. Our guest today, Heidi B. Freeman, is an environmental attorney who found herself a divorce and she set out on a mission to find true love. Determined to understand the complexities of relationships, she immersed herself in research, embraced dating, and committed to doing whatever it took to find the right partner. Over a decade, she went on 104 days, not with 104 different men, but she also interviewed numerous couples uncovering invaluable lessons that she learned along the way. She's written a wonderful book called Love Lessons 104 Days and the Stories That Led Me to True Love. Today she's going to share some invaluable lessons about the challenges she faced and ultimately about how she found lasting love with the man who is now her husband. So whether you are single giving love a second chance, whether you're someone evaluating your current relationship or you're looking for love for the first time and hoping to find the one, Heidi has some advice and a story that will resonate with all of us. You certainly don't have to be single to learn from some of the lessons in Heidi's book. So stick around because you're not going to want to miss this. Welcome to this episode of Life is Delicious. I'm Marnie Martin, and I'm so glad you're here. And if this is your first time here, welcome to the Life is Delicious Family. This podcast isn't about surviving midlife. It's about crafting your next chapter life, overflowing with purpose, joy, and delicious possibilities. Listen, midlife doesn't have to be a crisis. It can be a beautiful invitation to remember who we are, to rediscover a new version of ourselves, or to completely reinvent our life to reflect who we are becoming now. So if you're tired of being exhausted, living life on autopilot and putting everyone else first, then you are in the right place. Each week we'll bring you thought-provoking ideas and practical strategies as well as inspiration to help you prioritize yourself again. It's time to take back your joie de vie. So grab a notebook and pen and pop in those earbuds and let's go get it. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of over-the-counter pain medications of any kind. But at this stage of life, almost everyone I know is living with some sort of chronic pain, inflammation, joint distress, or injury. Not to mention the crazy symptoms that come along with menopause. The Freedom Superpatch is designed to help provide relief from minor aches and pain. It's safe, all natural, non-invasive, and 100% drug-free with no ingredients or side effects. Superpatch uses vibro tactile technology to stimulate the skin's neural response through a unique pattern similar to a QR code that sends signals to the brain and your nervous system to generate less discomfort and stimulate better movement. You can get 25% off your first order at lifeisdelicious.superpatch.com. Give yourself the gift of drug-free pain relief with the Freedom Superpatch. That's lifeisdelicious.superpatch.com for a 25% discount. Welcome Heidi to the show. I'm so grateful to have you here. I am happy to be here, Marnie. Nice to meet you. It's been a little while. We've been trying to put this together, and you have a really interesting story. So I'm super excited to hear how you got started in the process of writing this book. So maybe give our listeners a little bit of background as to how you got here.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. So the book actually was born about 15 years ago. Um I was turning 40 and I was traveling a lot for work. I'm a corporate lawyer and I was on airplanes and I started reading things and thinking about things, and I decided I did not know that I what love was. You know, I I decided even though that I was um divorced, I know you can judge me, I was married already, but I didn't feel like I knew that true love, um, what that really felt like. And so I started interviewing friends and colleagues and people that I was close to who I felt had very strong relationships and were, you know, quote unquote in love still. And I took all this data and all these interviews and I would compile them when I was traveling. And I realized, wow, there are themes here that I see throughout all the responses. No matter if I asked the men or the women, or if there been, you know, same sex or not, or age or not, it was the same themes. And so that's when the book was really born. I wrote the first eight or so chapters, and then I put it away as I continued to date and um a lot of dating I did do, and I eventually got fixed up with my now husband, who we've been married for 10 years. And several years ago I found all those notes in the initial eight chapters, and I said, ooh, it would be so fun to think about how these themes apply to my current relationship and if they held true. And so that's really how the book was born, and then I decided to merge kind of all of the 104 dates that I went on, that research and my own experiences to come up with love lessons.

SPEAKER_00:

That's amazing. I love that. So, did you at the time when you started dating, obviously you were keeping notes?

SPEAKER_01:

So so when I started dating, I started a journal. And I I didn't take notes on everybody I dated. I just started, I think it was after my fifth or sixth date, I said, I'm gonna count. And I don't know why, but I just had a feeling it was gonna be a journey. And I had a lot of journal entries about certain people and certain dates and more about how I was feeling. And I share some of them in the book. And in fact, those were the hardest things for my now husband and my one son to read because they were some very lonely, dark times. And so I was pretty transparent about that. And so the journals guided me. The only notes that I really kept were more related to my interviews, and but my journals and looking, it's sort of I think there's a great quote that says you have to look back to know how far you've come. And those journals allowed me to do that.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's such a great story because I think it is a journey, and sometimes when we go through a divorce or we've had a major life transition like that, there are some dark times, and it's not until we really get clear about who we are and who we want to be and how we want to show up in those relationships, and even what kind of relationship we really want to have.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. I I think I became over that 10-year period, I became a different person. I was very confident in my work life and my decision making around my professional career, but not very good at, you know, finding someone that was a true partner or a good match. And it really allowed me to do a lot of work and therapy and inner searching to figure out what kind of partner I really wanted, what kind of partner I could be, and to learn so much more about myself. So it really was this amazing 10-year period of self-growth and confidence building and all the things. But there are dark days in that, as you said.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I think it's interesting because I'm a single gal as well, and I've been married twice, but you know, a lot of it is, and I've heard the quote too, which I think is is fabulous, that you need to become the partner that you're looking for. And that means meaning that inner work, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. I and my kids, I have four kids, two I birthed and two I was blessed to have um through my now husband. But we we talk so much about dating, and I'm always saying it's a little cheesy, but you need to be the best you before you can be ready to be with somebody else. And I think that that is so true. And sometimes we get so focused on what a good friend of mine calls the Noah Ark, Noah's Ark syndrome, which is the need to pair up so quickly. And I've seen my kids do that, and without being thoughtful about who you are and what you need and what you can give, and are you in a place even to have a relationship, or do you have things yourself you need to work on? So I I'm always kind of banging into their heads the sort of you need to be the best you before you can really meet somebody else.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I think I love that. I've never actually heard Noah's Ark syndrome, but it totally makes sense.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't I can't take my friend Bernadette came up with that. I can't take credit for it.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, well, we'll make sure she gets credit in the notes. But you know, the reality is that I think it there's a bit of an art to being single as well. Um, and I've been single for a while, but I I'm happily single. I mean, certainly looking for someone, but I'm working on myself, and that's a huge part of that journey. But there is something to be said for not feeling incomplete without a partner.

SPEAKER_01:

For sure. And that's something I had to get comfortable with too. I was I will definitely tell you that I got to the place, and weirdly, like pretty much right before I met my now husband, where I I had definitely convinced myself I would absolutely rather be alone than be with the wrong person or be with someone who drains me in any way, shape, or form. So I was committed to that. And I was, you know, a young mom and we had lots of events and things to go to with my kids. And I had to show up and be my own date when everyone else was married and um, you know, start to feel good about that. And I always say you are your own best date. So um, you know, if you buy a new outfit, it feels a little bit better. So that that's um maybe when my whole love of fashion really reached its peak. But it's it's definitely something about being comfortable about being alone that makes you more attractive, I think. But then I the also the also I would say I would be interested what your thought is on this. The flip side of that is I do think you have to have an open heart and an open mind when you know a lot of people come to me for advice now about dating and and things. And sometimes I feel like people say they want to meet somebody, but they don't really want to leave this house. Or they don't want to do new things or try new things or join groups or things like that. And if you're closed off, you are not having like the open heart and open mind that you need to be open to meeting somebody. And I did get to a point where I felt like I have just spent way too much time sitting in bed watching the bachelorette and eating popcorn to, you know, let someone else into this whole scenario. And I don't know if I'll ever find somebody at this point. But um, so I do think you it's a little bit of a balance of both um getting comfortable with yourself, but not so closed off that you really aren't attracting, you know, giving off the vibe you need to meet somebody.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I I love that you have in your in your book, I think it is that, you know, love's not gonna find you if you're sitting on the couch, right? Amen. That's true, exactly. Yeah, and well, my thoughts on that are um what you just asked me was what I find for me, uh because I'm a work from home person, um I don't go very many places. So I have to make a real conscious effort to go places and be where people are, because I even order my groceries online, so I don't even go to the grocery store. So it's a real conscious effort, and especially when you're looking at the online dating world, behind a computer, we've all gotten so comfortable being behind a screen that you don't, like you say, get those in person, you know, looking someone in the eyes and getting a sense of their body language and all of the little things that create chemistry between two people.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. Intentionality is so important. I um it's interesting. I have a podcast with my 22-year-old called I Love You More, and we talk a lot about generational dating. And though it's interesting because those guys are really used to communicating on apps. So they'll actually, even if they see someone live, a lot of what they do is just all virtual, but they're all tired of it. I mean, from my 27-year-old to my 22-year-old and the ones in between, they want to meet people in the wild now. And they're joining running groups and all kinds of things. And I think they're great examples for the rest of us. I don't care if you're 30, 40, 50, 60, you know, find something you like to do and and and join. I'm also not opposed to the apps. I always say, like, I like the apps because it's like you wouldn't prep for your big interview. You wouldn't go to your big interview without prepping. And I kind of look at it like practice, you have to have low expectations because the authenticity is not going to be foundational there. But you can vet people and it just kind of gives you this open, I'm open to dating vibe. And, you know, just make sure you only have a half hour and a cocktail to meet that person or whatever. But um, I I'm not, you know, opposed either way, whether it's in the wild or, you know, online. But I think it's really just a matter of being intentional, like you said, and being open.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And I mean, I did meet my second husband online, and that was way back in the early, early days, like 25 years ago when you know there wasn't it was it was really embarrassing actually to be online because nobody else was doing it. It was like, you're doing what? Like you're that desperate? You have to what? But it's not like that anymore. And I think you need a combination of looking and and also I think that the dating apps give you clarity as to what you're looking for, you know. I mean, it's very easy for us to be a little bit more shallow where it's looking at pictures and going nope or yes. And a lot of times that doesn't give you really a snapshot of who the person is, but it definitely does allow us to read a lot of profiles and go, you know, that's just not gonna work for me. And I love what you said earlier, and I think I'm exactly in that place. I would happily rather be alone than with the wrong person.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I I have all these rules. I don't know if I call them rules at the end, like lessons, I guess what they are at at in my book. And my number one lesson is don't settle. And that's what I'm pounding into my kids. I don't want them to make the same mistakes that I made. And just because you feel like you want to be paired up or it's time to get married, um, for me it was I really wanted to have kids. I was I feel like I wanted to be a mom from like when I was 12. I don't, I'm not sure, but it was just very natural to me. And um, you know, so you just can't settle. You really need to listen to that gut and make sure you're hearing those voices that might be giving you doubt. I mean, I can honestly say when I got married to Will, I didn't have a single doubt in my mind, which really says something.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yeah, and and practice makes perfect, right? So the more you get out there, and I think what you did having that, you know, open mind to say, I'm just gonna go and I'm gonna be with a bunch of different people, and I'm gonna see what feels good, and I'm gonna see what doesn't feel good, and I'm gonna get really clear about what I want. And I think that's a super important way to find your own like lane of what you're looking for.

SPEAKER_01:

Definitely. I learned so much. I mean, a lot of the dates were one. There was about 55 guys. There was a handful of guys that I did date, you know, repeatedly. So one for six months, another one for three months, but most of my dates were one day, like in and out. And I will say that I am one of those people who draws conclusions quickly on people for good or for bad. Um, and I was not the person who was gonna go on a second date if I knew there wasn't a connection there. And I would have girlfriends saying to me, like, just try it again. You know, they'd fix me up and I would be like, You go try it again. I'm not trying it again, you know. And and I would be very transparent with the person that, you know, was asking me out. And I would say, I really enjoyed meeting you, but I don't think we're a match. And that's what I counsel my kids. You know, this whole ghosting thing is ridiculous. You should just be honest about what what's going on and whether it works or not. And there was times when I was hoping someone was gonna ask me out again and I never heard from them or whatever. So it went both ways, of course, but I did learn a lot. And I learned, you know, I needed someone to respect my career, not someone who would feel threatened by that. I I I had people that, you know, people were saying, oh, find somebody with no kids, that's what you need. And and what I found out is the people with no kids had no idea what I was going through, and and talking to fathers of children were the ones that really connected. So it was like that kind of my journey gave me so much more clarity of what will work and what wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I agree with that as for myself as well. I find that, you know, um being a mom myself and that I was wanting to be a mom all my life as well, and that's a really uh probably my biggest joy of my whole life. Agreed. But in that case, I have personally found, and I'm not saying people without kids certainly don't have any kind of empathy, because that's definitely not true. But I have found for me that I tend to gravitate more towards people who have been parents as well because they tend to have similar, you know, values, I guess is probably part of it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. And I and I also feel like if a guy is also a single parent and an active single parent, I felt like we were sharing a lot of our same challenges. And that felt supportive. It's also complicated. You know, merging two families was very complicated for us. We had to be also very intentional, very, you know, not push certain things. I mean, we're so blessed. Our kids are so close. Two of the kids, one of mine, one of Will's, are literally best friends and talk every day. I mean, beyond blessed and how that all worked out. But it was a very thoughtful, intentional process. So when you get to a certain age where you're dating and, you know, someone's a parent and things like that, you're taking on a lot more than the other person. You're taking on, I needed someone at least to make sure they were taking on, you know, my entire family, which, you know, was me and my two kids at the time. So um that's an important thing to think about when you're dating.

SPEAKER_00:

And I do think that there is some resilience and some, oh, what's the word I'm looking for? Some some real um growth that happens when you do have to parent in a as a single parent, because you have to learn how to be mom and dad in certain moments. And I think that helps you to grow as a human being in a in a really interesting way. For sure.

SPEAKER_01:

And and I could do a whole separate book on that, to be honest with you. Yes. I do think I I my kids and I talk about this all the time. I actually think my relationship with my kids is extra special because of that. Because I mean, we vacationed together the three, I mean, the amount of time the three of us spent together was ridiculous. I'm sure they wished they had some alternatives, but um, you know, it definitely did take a village and we had lots of people that loved us in our lives, but we the three of us have a connection that I think is different and in in a good way than someone who may have been raised with two parents and have a little bit more stability. So um on that front. But I I, you know, listen, as I've said before, I think I say in the book, I would go through this path again if it led me to where I am right now. And we just learn every we we have to go on this journey and it ends where it ends.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I believe my family situation very similar. I have two sons as well, and and we are very, very close. And I think it's also because we spent a gazillion hours, you know, doing things together and and uh and I wouldn't take any of that time back at all. No. I agree. Yeah. So what advice would you give to our listeners who are maybe maybe give us some tips from your book? I know you have a specific uh thing called the three L's, and I'm curious what that is.

SPEAKER_01:

The the three L's are love lessons learned. And this is what I put at the end of the book, and it's sort of cutting to the chase of if I take all my research and I take everything I learned on the dates, and then I take my current relationship, and what you know, to kind of mix it all together. What did I learn? You know, one of them, for example, is luck plays a role. I mean, I one of my favorite stories to tell is that my husband is actually from Indiana, was in Indiana um working for a real estate corporation in at the two in 2009 when the whole market crashed. And they basically closed the entire division he was working for. And he will literally tell you it was like the lowest point of his life. He was the sole breadwinner for his family, married at the time, um, and had two boys. And he didn't know how he was going to support them. The mark, you know, the economy was falling apart. So he ends up moving to Cleveland, Ohio, and taking this job as CEO of the Port of Cleveland. And at the time, you know, one of his kids wouldn't even talk to him for six months because they didn't want to move schools. And I mean, it was literally when you look back, like, you know, what whether it was the hardest time or not. But if this did not happen, he would not have met the mutual friend of ours that fixed us up and we would not be together, which seems unheard of in the karmic world that we live in because you know, even our kids laughed, what a good match we are. So it's like I always say to my kids, like when something happens like that, good luck, bad luck, who knows? You don't know right now what that's gonna be. There's like an old wife's table that goes through all these things and says good luck, bad luck, who knows? You know, what turned out to be his worst time turned out to be his best time because it led us to our life together. And so that's one of the lessons that I learned is like you can certainly be intentional and you can work on being the best you and you can put yourself out there and all of that, but there is a little bit of luck to the mix.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, and I do think that, and we talk a lot about that here on the podcast about how sometimes we're thinking we're on the right path, but then we take a bit of a left turn and we think, what the heck? Why am I going this way for some reason? But for it takes you to where you didn't know you needed to go. Exactly. And and yeah, so it's I do think there's some some luck and some karma in there for sure, too.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm a big believer in karma. I'm a big yogi. So I actually the the woman that fixed up my husband and I, I met through yoga. And the karma, you know, sort of frequency that goes with that is so important.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I agree. I totally agree. I'm sure you've got some little gems that you can uh give us to take away and maybe implement for ourselves.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. I I mean I would say that one of the number ones is what we talked about, which is have an open heart and an open mind. One of the the, you know, I feel like you can combine potentially meeting somebody with making yourself the best you. I was trying to think of how to frame that. Because, you know, figure out what you like to do. There's so many things now. There's this meetups and all kinds of stuff. And, you know, you can do everything from playing pickleball to go knit somewhere or whatever. And, you know, whatever it is that you like to do, I think will make you feel better to get out to meet more people and could introduce you to other people. And so it it kind of works in a variety of ways. And so I just would encourage people to have an open heart and an open mind. The second thing I would I would say is to really learn to listen to your gut. If I had to go back and tell you what was wrong to me years ago, was I was ignoring my gut. And I think that when we want something badly enough, we let those red flags, there might be the biggest red flag in front of your face that you could possibly see waving, but you're like flipping it aside. And I think that it is so important to listen to your gut and look at those red flags and think about them and don't ignore them. And so that that's like, you know, probably the second thing that I would say. And it's hard, right? It's huge though. It's huge, you know. We just and I've ignored way too many red flags in my life. So it tune up your gut is what I would say. Definitely tune up your gut. And then the the other thing I would just say is expand your community. So one of the things that I said, you know, I did say join things, but there's something else, which is if you really want to meet somebody, I would tell people, but don't tell, you know, people in your it's kind of, I know you're we're not doing video, but there's a visual of your inner circle. And your inner circle only gets you so far. What I realized in my journey is by talking to these people at the time in yoga who I hardly knew, I was expanding my circle wider and wider. And I literally said to my friend Ann, you have to know somebody. Don't you know anybody? And at the time, she said, Well, I actually keep seeing this guy and I think of you, and the whole thing came to fruition after that. But that would never have happened if I didn't broaden that circle, which kind of goes back to my first thing about joining things and showing up. But it you really have to kind of go out into the community broader and wider. You know, people tell people at work. People might not know your relationship status, they might not know you're interested in dating. You know, people are very careful. And and so I think that by sharing, I love to go to cocktail parties and and when people volunteer, they know I wrote a book about this now, so it comes a little more easily, but they start volunteering that they're single, and I'm already like, have you done this? Let me fix you up. Like, I love that stuff. And so, and you'd be amazed at how many people love fixing people up.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and you give people permission to set you up with someone because quite often somebody doesn't want to be responsible for a bad connection.

SPEAKER_01:

And by the way, you will have those. I had so many of them where I was sitting there sipping my wine, wondering how in the world the friend that set us up thought this would work. And it it does have to be more thoughtful than like, oh, he's divorced, she's divorced, or whatever. But you know, you do people are gonna then ask you, what are you looking for? So you have to think about what you're saying, you know, what you would say in response to that. But at the end of the day, the more you tell people that you're open, I think the better your chances are.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. And I think I saw in the book also that you had one that said, don't have too many rules.

SPEAKER_01:

That's an important one, actually. And so I the I'll give I'll frame this in how I used them, which I actually had a rule that I would not date somebody more than five years older than me, and I would not date somebody who was not divorced for at least a year. And my rationale for the second one was really that divorces are messy, and I wanted people to have time to date and do their thing and things like that. So when Ann fixed me up with my husband, both of those rules had to be broken. He is nine and a half years older than me, and he was in the process of a divorce that was taking years. And so he was already, they were long separated and everything, but it wasn't quite done. And Anne's just like, trust me, and I did. And it basically said to me, like, don't have rules. Like, you just can't have rules like that. You just have to be open-minded and see what works for you. And rules just limit what you can do. And and I literally wouldn't have gone out on the date with my now husband if I followed my own stupid rules. And by the way, they were stupid. I mean, you know, they the word did I come up with I'm not dating somebody more than five years older than me. I mean, that was so random. Like, what? So it was just, you know, silly. And in fact, what I did at one point, I went to Maribol with a with some friends for a birthday, and we were manifesting things in it. And they said basically, like, write a list of all the characteristics you wish this person you want in your life would have. And, you know, some of them are silly, but I have thirty a list of 32 things. My husband has every one of them. It's bizarre. But, anyways, that's just an aside, but it just goes to show you like if I use those all as rules, I I would have looked at it differently versus like an aspiration, um, which is different than a rule.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And I 100% believe in manifesting, and I have a very extensive list. It's actually very, very, very specific. Um, which I'm sure I may not get every single thing. But I think it's important to be very clear about what you're looking for and and that you are worthy of having what you want. I think that's the other piece. So, what other advice would you give someone who's either swinging at the fence a second time or just getting started in? In terms of being able to know that you're worthy of love.

SPEAKER_01:

That's so hard. If you don't think you are, I tell I think you should go to therapy. And I think having self-awareness and self-confidence and knowing that you are worthy to have the love that you deserve, no one should settle. You know, and um my my grandma, I use it in the book, used to tell me there's a lid for every pot. And I truly believe believe that. And she also said, you know, let's not make four people miserable by having the wrong people. Like you need the right pot on the right lid, kind of thing. So I I do believe that there is a lid for every pot. In fact, I think there's multiple lids that fit a fit a pot, frankly, depending on where you are in your life. And I think that the only way to figure out how worthy of love you are is to work through why you feel like you're not. And it actually took me a lot of therapy to get to the bottom of why I could have so much confidence and expectations in my professional life, but not my personal life. And if I didn't do that work, I don't think I'd have the strong relationship that I have now. And, you know, I don't think I would someone would have said to me, you know, you're not gonna let anyone take care of you because I'm such a strong person and I felt so strong about independence. And I'll be honest, like having someone take care of me and things is the most beautiful thing in the world. And we take care of each other. It's not one way. But those are the kinds of things that I think you need to work through probably with some help if you're not there yet.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think that's a really big piece of the puzzle for sure. Well, thank you so much for being here with us today. It's been awesome. I will definitely put a link to your book in the bio and then show notes. And um if you I will also put your podcast in there. I think. Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

We're actually starting, we only had recorded four or five episodes, and as you know, I did a cross-country move. So um we put it on hold for the summer, but we're starting back up next week, and we're super excited about it. And I have learned a lot about the younger generation that I think how they're doing things, and I think they're learning from us, and there's a lot we can learn from each other. So I encourage you to listen to I Love You More as well. And Marnie, it's so much fun to talk to you. I know the perfect love is in your future as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Ah, thank you so much. And yeah, I think it's brilliant that you're sitting with your kids and having conversations about teaching the younger generation how to find love and how to be worthy of love and how to pick the right partner and not to sell. I think that's brilliant. And if you want, just before we go to tell people where they can find you on social media if they want to check out your book.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. Um, I my Instagram is at LoveLessons104, and the book is available on Amazon, Love Lessons, 104 dates in the journey that led me to true love. And then if you want to find the podcast, it's I Love You More, and it's on Spotify and Apple. And appreciate you so much, Marnie, for having me and for everyone for listening.

SPEAKER_00:

I hope you loved today's episode. I hope it inspired you or motivated you in some way to keep going and create your very best life. If you did, would you stop and take five minutes to leave me a review on Apple Podcasts? It's the best way for me to know that you're enjoying the show, and it helps other listeners find us as well. And while you're at it, head over to lifeisdelicious.ca and sign up for email updates so you'll get notified every time a new episode drops. And I'll send you a free copy of my ebook, The Midlife Manifesto. Inspiring strategies for mastering the eight most important areas of your life. Sign up today at lifeisdelicious.ca. And if no one has told you today, there's not one person on this planet that is exactly like you. And the world is a better place because you're here. So thank you for being here. I'll be back next week, and I hope you'll join me right here on Life is Delicious.