After a year of dealing with stress at work, my husband “checked out” for a while. He was often frustrated, angry, distant and dismissive. After a while, I felt lost and lonely.
A male friend of my husband’s was all too willing to fill that gap in my life, and I began to enjoy his attention and the excitement it brought to a rather dreary time in my marriage. While I wised up before anything physical happened, after three weeks of secretive texts and conversations, my husband found out and was devastated. His world came crashing down because of my stupid mistake and mishandling of our marriage.
My husband took a hard look at his role in our marriage and FOUGHT to reverse what had been done. He scaled back at work, even though he knew he would suffer backlash (which he did). He listened to my needs and made an effort to show me love every day. Above all, he taught me about forgiveness. He could have clung to anger and hurt, but he worked more than anyone I’ve ever seen to let go of that anger and fill our marriage with a new beginning instead of festering wounds.
I’m grateful every day that I am lucky enough to have landed such a man, and I can guarantee I will never take “friendship” with another man so lightly again.
Bethany
Our Marriage Was a Mess
The Dr. Laura Call of the Day Podcast
