I thought I knew what marriage meant—shared lives, mutual support, loving someone for who they are. But I never realized how much of love is also about adapting, not just accepting.
My name is Richard, and at forty, I’m sorting through the debris of a relationship I thought was solid. My wife, Jennifer, didn’t leave me for another man, or a secret addiction, or even a sudden midlife crisis. She left because she couldn’t breathe inside the life we built—a life I thought was safe and stable, but she came to see as small and suffocating.
It started with a suitcase.
She said it was just a three-day work retreat with a coworker, Molly. She barely looked up while packing. I offered to take her to the airport. She declined. Said she already had a cab. Read more below