“At the beginning it was really nice. Especially after the...

“At the beginning it was really nice.  Especially after the twins were born.  They filled our lives.  And I felt like I could count on him.  We were on the same page about everything.  But as the kids grew older, differences began to emerge.  Mainly about how we should raise them.  I’d want to go one way.  He’d want to go another.  And he began making decisions without consulting me.  We stopped communicating.  And when we did talk, all the sentences felt premade.  I didn’t feel listened to.  And things became tense.  It felt like two feet in one shoe.  I didn’t want to share my bed with him.  I wanted out.  But I was afraid to leave because I knew that he needed me.  He relied on me for everything outside of work.  I even took care of his sick mother.  But whenever I asked for things, he was always busy.  Then one day I decided I was done.  He pleaded.  He said it wasn’t fair.  And that he loved me.  And he couldn’t make it without me.  We’d been together for thirty years.  We grew up together.  For our entire lives we’d been in the same boat.  But in that one instant I was able to separate myself from him as a person.  Suddenly his problems were his problems.  And my problems were mine.  And I knew that if I didn’t do it now, I’d never be able to do it.”
(Florence, Italy)