Every Christmas, my husband and I took our kids on a trip—no matter how broke or busy we were, it was the one promise we never broke. I thought this year would be the first exception because of “money problems.” Turned out, the only thing that was really broke was my marriage.
My name is Emma, I’m 40, and until a few months ago I thought I was married to a decent man.
Mark and I had been together for 11 years. We have two kids: Liam, who’s 10 and wants to be an engineer, and Ava, who’s 7 and still believes the world is mostly good. We have the basic suburban starter pack: modest house, school runs, two cars that always need something, and a calendar full of PTA meetings and dentist appointments.
We weren’t extraordinary. Just… normal. Or so I thought.