PLUS MODEL MAGAZINE April 2015 Bridal Issue | Page 97

Marcy Barba and Jason Duarte
Year We Met: 2010
After 13 years in an abusive marriage I made the choice to divorce. I started to
believe all the negativity that came with that. As I struggled to find myself and
move forward, I met Jason. I then struggled to allow anyone in my life. It took me
a year and a half to bring him around my kids and family. I had lost hope in men and
believed no one would ever want a damaged plus size single mom of two, but he
was different...he encouraged me to be MY best, loved me for ME, never judged
my past, only added value to my future. After 4 years of dating he purchased a
home and asked me and my kids to move in with him. Oh how I contemplated the
move, was I ready? Were my kids ready? Could I fully trust again? What if things
went wrong, would it be another failed relationship? He had already proven to
be there through my hardship and I knew I needed to learn to allow myself to be
vulnerable and truly love again. We eventually moved in together and became
a family. He has been my strength and my biggest fan. He encourages me to
follow every dream I had, but had given up. With encouragement I became a
CFO of a million dollar company and recently applied for a business license to
open my own business, which had been a dream of mine for years. He’s been
my rock through hard times and after 5 years he still makes me laugh every day,
his kisses still give me butterflies in my stomach and he thanks me for even the
simplest things (cooking dinner, laundry & cleaning). Every morning before he
leaves to work he kisses me over 50 times as I sleep. This man has taken on the
role of a step-father, helps my little one with homework and projects, and even
picks her up every day from daycare without one complaint. We have the same
future plans and with each other’s encouragement I feel there’s nothing we can’t
do, I’m in love and it’s disgusting but I’m loving it!