Diony and William share about the ups and downs of their family, and how their relationship has progressed. I hope you enjoy reading their story.

What challenges have you faced?  

Most of our challenges happened when I was pregnant. Everything was nuts. I had to move to the same city that he was in, and we had so many appointments. I was a high risk pregnancy, so I was in and out of the hospital. I was sick a few times as well.

My family could not help too much, as they had financial constraints, which is understandable. During that time, I lost my job, and I had to adjust to motherhood and pregnant life. William works for the state so he’d be sent out on jobs. There were times he was gone and I had to multitask our home life. My aunt was battling cancer then too. There was a lot going on, but we got through it together.

How do you deal with difficult times?

We talk through the difficult times and give each other space. We do not crowd each other. We always want to know what happened to affect the other person so much, but the point is not to get the information out when the other person is not ready yet. We give each other, and ourselves, the space to breathe. It is not easy but it is necessary. 

How have you adjusted to life together?

Life together is always an adjustment when you’re constantly learning about your partner. So far we have adjusted fine but we took a slow approach and really had to see how the other half of our relationship lives. 

What kind of boundaries protect your relationship?

We do not include outside influences and we stay very private. We do not broadcast ourselves and we openly tell people to mind their business. If we wanted things to be known, we would say it ourselves. 

How have your family and friends reacted?

Our friends and family reacted well minus a few people we longer associate with. Certain family members from both sides needed an attitude adjustment – which they got. All in all, we have a good support group and we are grateful for that. 

How are things now with friends and family? Are they supportive or are there any outstanding issues?

Things now are good and healthy, but I get caught off guard with how different our families are. My family is definitely street smart, but well-educated. They are active in the military and hood. On the other hand, his family is very studious. They are loving, and can go on tangents with certain subjects, but they are good people. We love them and they love us! There are no more issues. That was handled very quickly, and things have better since then. We have no issues at all right now. If any were to occur again, we would handle them as team. 

Is this a new dynamic for you?

This is a new dynamic for me, because I am finally in a new and healthy relationship. I’ve had so much instability in my old relationships that I needed to be single to heal. William is so kind and courteous, loving, charming and encourages me every single day to be good for me. 

What are some of the expectations you had before your relationship?

My expectations were basically to be the opposite of what I’ve previously dealt with and William has met those wholeheartedly.

Looking back on some of those expectations, how have they changed now?

My expectations haven’t changed much.  William is still doing the absolute best, especially with our son. I love seeing him be such an amazing dad. 

What are some of the things you do to keep your relationship growing?

We have date nights, and have our alone time we always manage to surprise and constantly communicate with each other. Knowing where the other person is coming from helps.

What advice would you give to others?

The advice I have for others is love yourself first know your own worth before you bring someone else into your life. Become your own priority and be healthy in all aspects of your life. Don’t be scared to love again and share with your partner, don’t hide from them and most of all, understand who you’re dealing with and if you find that you’re with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, enjoy and encourage them.

That’s all for this segment! Thank you so much for following this story. That concludes this interview segment. Thank you so much for reading this article. If you are interested in doing a feature interview for the website, please leave a comment below, or connect with either me or Christelyn. You can reach me directly at [email protected].