Happy Ending

I'm writing to you with a completely shattered heart. I've known my wife for over five years, and we got married last August. It was a fairy tale wedding, everything we always wanted, with about 200 guests. Everyone said by the look on our faces they knew we were in love.

For years before the wedding, my wife was completely into me. We spent every night and all weekend together. Our perfect weekend would be a couple of rental movies and a night out to eat. Six months after the wedding I threw a 30th birthday party for my wife and invited all her friends. She had a blast but got very drunk. People were shocked to see her like that, but I was just happy my wife was happy.

After the party I noticed she acted different. My wife didn't seem to care about things we made a priority in our life, like having a baby and buying a home. One Saturday morning I found her secretly checking her voice mail messages. I guessed at her access code and guessed correctly. The message I heard was her boss saying how much he missed her and needed to hear the sound of her voice.

I started shaking and felt nauseous. He is the same age as me, in great shape, and definitely her type. I went upstairs and confronted my wife. She denied it, but I could see the lie in her face. When I suggested we listen to the voice mail together, she confessed and we both cried.

She explained he was there for her because I wasn't there emotionally. She said they only kissed once or twice but never slept together. I want to believe her, but I don't. She seems cold and distant and isn't the same person anymore. Part of me wants her back, and part of me thinks she's too far gone.

Doyle

Doyle, just because you cried together it doesn't mean you were crying for the same reason. A teenager stealing a CD from a store may cry when he gets caught, but if he succeeded he might hold the CD aloft and boast to his buddies. His tears are not tears of remorse, but tears because of his predicament.

Nothing in your letter suggests you weren't there for your wife emotionally, yet she isn't lying when she makes that claim. Who was emotionally disconnected? She was, from you. She doesn't feel the closeness, the loyalty, and the bond you do.

Your connection to her would prevent you from doing this to her. She was so disconnected from you she didn't consider you before becoming involved with her boss.

She claims you were emotionally distant. She wants you to accept blame for something she never told you. She did not come to her husband and talk. She started dating her boss and hid it from her husband. If she was that miserable, she should have told you.

Fidelity is the definition of marriage. What does that mean? When two people decide on marriage, dating stops. Intimate relationships with other people stop. Otherwise, why get married? Your wife is dating again. That kills a marriage.

In one of the Upanishads there is an ecstatic passage which begins, "This earth is honey for all beings, and all beings are honey for this earth?" That passage always reminds us what marriage should feel like. A husband should be honey for his wife, and a wife honey for her husband.

Home should be a refuge and an oasis. The one who shares that with you should love you simply and completely.

To move forward, sooner or later you have to get to the truth. How do you get from where you are to where you want to be, with a woman whose first response was to lie and point the finger at you?

Wayne & Tamara

Direct Answers - Column for the week of May 3, 2004

About The Author

Authors and columnists Wayne and Tamara Mitchell can be reached at www.WayneAndTamara.com.

Send letters to: Direct Answers, PO Box 964, Springfield, MO 65801 or email: DirectAnswers@WayneAndTamara.com.

In The News:

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table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://neighborsgoblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/10/celebrating-kristin-pass-aledo.htmlcid=1256969264ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNHHstyB2fwjuZpvIr1wwlbzfAMGWgimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=SBDsraSVN88Jimgurl=neighborsgoblog.dallasnews.com/_homecomingqueen01.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Dallas Morning News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://neighborsgoblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/10/celebrating-kristin-pass-aledo.htmlcid=1256969264ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNHHstyB2fwjuZpvIr1wwlbzfAMGWgCelebrating Kristin Pass, Aledo#39;s favorite daughter/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDallas Morning News,nbsp;TXnbsp;-/font nobr8 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Hats off to Dallas Morning News colleague Michael Young and his binspirational/b story in today#39;s Metro section about an amazing homecoming queen and her b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.milforddailynews.com/sports/pros_and_colleges/x2004894156/On-Campus-Dream-chasercid=1257076222ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNHlYRdH51DkpPbGjNfvRsJ0NXE5TAOn Campus: Dream chaser/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMilford Daily News,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1quot;The most binspirational/b people to me have been my past coaches - I was close to my field hockey coaches in high school and college - and I want to be one of b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx%3Fs%3D28542cid=0ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNHKLiaqW0oNgYYBE_ChpWkblUC4rgTatenda Tavaziva#39;s journey to and at UMHB an binspirational/b story/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fKilleen Daily Herald,nbsp;TXnbsp;-/font nobr18 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Tatenda Tavaziva attends a football game at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The current student body president arrived at the school in January 2005 b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0810/S00122.htmcid=0ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNEzROlwuehsZ5jRZaTugY4trp0Z7w500 $1 return airfares for binspirational/b Kiwis/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fScoop.co.nz (press release),nbsp;New Zealandnbsp;-/font nobrOct 11, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Well, we want to show our Aussie friends what makes us Kiwis special by giving away 500 $1 return fares to binspirational/b Kiwis making a difference in our b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/swerve/story.html%3Fid%3D0982c085-420c-4b1d-a095-2f284714da1ccid=0ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNGJmG0gLVGUzZA1xXbP1shtgWSFXwimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=82qOA1jEwUEJimgurl=a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/idl/cahr/20081010/128316-46511.jpg%3Fsize%3Dl width=80 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Calgary Herald/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/swerve/story.html%3Fid%3D0982c085-420c-4b1d-a095-2f284714da1ccid=0ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNGJmG0gLVGUzZA1xXbP1shtgWSFXwA new generation of icky, angsty, binspirational/b books for teens b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCalgary Herald,nbsp; Canadanbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Sure, they text and they Twitter and they play way too much Wii. But all those twitchy, tormented adolescent souls are still able to lose--and then b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/swerve/story.html%3Fid%3D4f48bffb-c488-47e1-99bc-032d457c352ecid=0ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNEtpT9TkBaV_0qWrqyzkmyVlQ8iJAA new generation of icky, angsty, binspirational/b books for teens b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCalgary Herald,nbsp; Canadanbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1by Hunter S. Thompson In high school my best buddy Gavin and I fancied ourselves literary snobs. We read Dostoevsky--he was our favourite--and Tolstoy and b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20081011/LIFE/810110312/1004cid=0ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNHcG8adLz6vOt74nUR8rrAC8wRbxgMarriage supporters#39; fundraiser brings binspirational/b film b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSioux Falls Argus Leader,nbsp;SDnbsp;-/font nobrOct 11, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Moviegoers can credit a group interested in promoting healthy marriages for bringing the binspirational/b movie quot;Fireproofquot; to Sioux Falls for a weeklong b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/without-quarter-my-pocket-new/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B7C5AD198-AAD6-412F-ADE8-009ABF5FBDE2%257D%26dist%3Dhpprcid=1255491471ei=PtjySI30L4Lg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNFzjj6wtDKCQx_Fvs_mmyeauww-hQ#39;Without a Quarter in My Pocket#39;: New Memoir Chronicles Cuban b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobrOct 8, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1SALEM, Ill., Oct 08, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Dr. Secundino E. Rubio#39;s life is a series of binspirational/b stories. From his childhood in pre-Castro b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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