By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-28 15:16:50 | Updated at 2025-01-30 23:36:58
2 days ago
A Texas judge revealed that her husband used a bulk of his life savings to help pay for her treatment for clinical depression that included anxiety about her marriage.
Judge Lina Hidalgo, 33, wrote a soul-baring piece for Vogue about her journey with depression, which led her to take a leave of absence last fall to receive outpatient mental health treatment.
The Democrat shared that she was forced to take a break from work for nine weeks in August 2023 because of her depression - just months before her then-boyfriend David asked her to marry him.
Hidalgo, who works in Harris County, which covers much of Houston, said that before he proposed, David helped her make sure she would enjoy both their wedding and the events leading up to it.
'David had used the bulk of his savings to pay off a massive bill I'd received for my mental health treatment, which had the unexpected result of making me less anxious about marriage—alongside everything else—and finally allowed me to accept David’s proposal,' Hidalgo wrote.
Hidalgo said therapy helped her accept two conflicting feelings at once and be able to feel joy over her relationship while also holding space for sadness.
Harris county judge Lina Hidalgo, 33, revealed that her husband used a bulk of his life savings to help pay for her treatment for clinical depression before their wedding
Hidalgo said that before he proposed, David helped her make sure she would enjoy both their wedding and the events leading up to it by helping her pay for her treatment for depression
She wrote that thanks to therapy she learned how to experience 'sadness, worry, or exhaustion over friends’ illnesses or natural disasters in Texas or various work challenges'
But she also learned those feelings could co-exist alongside her happy relationship with David and anticipation about their big day. 'could exist alongside the growing closeness of my relationship with David, and the joy and excitement I felt around wedding planning and making it to the big day itself.'
Hidalgo was elected as Harris county judge in January 2019
The Democrat shared that David's sacrifice helped her be able to experience the joy of her wedding at a time where she felt there was darkness in the world.
Hidalgo and David ended up tying the knot on November 6 last year - the day after the presidential election.
They had a destination wedding in the Philippines in December.
Hildalgo wrote in Vogue that she wanted to change her wedding date but wasn't able to.
She said she and friends fought to ensure Donald Trump's election win did not 'ruin' their big day.
The Stanford graduate, who was born in Texas to Colombian parents, was elected as Harris county judge in January 2019.
The Democrat shared that David's sacrifice helped her be able to experience the joy of her wedding at a time where she felt there was darkness in the world
She said she was inspired to get into elected office by Donald Trump's first presidency.
Hidalgo and David met over a decade ago while volunteering for the Texas Civil Rights Project in 2014.
'With my wedding feature, I wanted to share how we can have a more fulfilling life when we address our mental health challenges head on,' Hidalgo wrote on X about her Vogue article.
'It’s so important for Americans to continue having conversations around mental health. I’ve learned that wedding planning doesn’t have to take a toll on your mental health.'
