Divorce Party or Housewarming Party?

Married 4 months shy of 20 years? Ex-spouse’s name has officially been removed from the title of the house? Pizza cutter, ice cream scoop, knives, pots & pans literally falling apart? Sole parent of three teenagers? Yes, yes, and yes! Thus, I am finally the sole owner of my home after going through the past 3 crazy years. The dilemma now becomes, divorce party or housewarming party?

Divorce parties have become very popular these days. Divorce parties try to focus on the positive with such themes as, “when life gives you lemons”, “boy bye”, “ditch the dress”, etc. I really don’t feel comfortable celebrating the death of a marriage, of a family. It will always cause me much heartache and sadness when I reflect on how my family has been broken. I can find solace in the fact that I tried my best. When you have a spouse that has a physical ailment you do all that you can to research and help them, likewise, I did all the research and read all the books and was ready to do all the hard work, he just needed to want it for himself first, that didn’t happen and I’ve come to terms with that decision. No matter how hard I tried, how much I endured, requested, hoped, and prayed, divorce papers were served. 

Long story short, I have been praying hard and am in a good place. Though full disclosure, I do have my moments when it becomes overwhelming being the sole parent of 3 teenagers (youngest is technically 12, but she hangs out with teenagers, needs I say more?!?). And with regard to finances in particular. During the divorce process, the courts only look to balance the income, thus, the wife brings in 34k and the husband brings in 88k they look to balance it, thus each will balance out at 61k, which seems fair, right? That is until you realize that only one is covering all necessities and expenses for the children, only one is paying the mortgage, the electric, gas, wifi, utilities, clothing, makeup, shoes, makeup, classes, lessons, hair products, renting musical instruments for lessons, entertainment, braces, makeup (did I mention I have two daughters, teenage daughters?! lol), etc. Therefore that one parent doing all the parenting with regard to not only time but also money is going broke! One parent spending 61k on 4 people versus 1 parent spending 61k on themselves really doesn’t seem balanced. But that’s what Judge decided. Thus, truth be told, I’m still working through some anger and frustrations with the legal system but beyond that I am good. 

Long story short, is it acceptable to have a housewarming party since I am finally officially the sole owner of a home I’ve occupied for 19 years? And it’s been over 20 years since I had my wedding shower? Thoughts? Would you be okay with purchasing a housewarming gift for someone who has already occupied the house?