We were celebrating New Year’s Eve when my husband got a gift from his high school sweetheart and froze upon opening it. By morning, he was just gone. For six months, I had no idea where he’d gone or why. When he finally returned, he wasn’t alone. He arrived with a crushing truth.
I still remember the sound of the champagne cork popping that night.
The kids were yelling in the other room. Our friends were singing off-key. And I was plating shrimp cocktails like it was any other holiday.
At the time, I figured it was the usual end-of-year stress. Work deadlines. Family pressure. The weight of another year slipping away.