While on a family vacation, my in-laws told me to sit at another table.
Throughout the entire trip, no one spoke a word to me. When I asked my husband why, he just shrugged and said, “It’s how they are.” I smiled and replied, “Perfect. I have my way too.” The following morning, they found out what I had done—and panic set in.
Thinking back, the warning signs were always present. The subtle jabs, the cold glances, the way I was constantly treated like I didn’t belong in my own marriage. But I brushed them off. I loved my husband, Mark.
I believed that if I just kept showing up with love, if I waited long enough, things would shift. They never did. Instead, I ended up on what was supposed to be a peaceful, joyful family trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina—and it turned into something I’d never forget.