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The Wild Edge of Love Part 4
The Final Departure
For the Spring of 2019, I had planned an extended work trip. The preparation for it had begun nearly a year before. Six months before I left, he began to plan a month abroad for himself as well. But it was not for work. It was purely in retaliation against my independence and based in jealousy. He would be gone the entire month of August, before the semester of college started. And because he was a professor, he could get it paid for…which he did. No matter, we had six weeks together before he left. That summer he did not work at all. He was home every day, all day. I hope you can feel even the slightest discomfort in my words. I work from home when I am not traveling and always have.
He said that he knew it too…that the marriage needed to be over. Those are the words I heard when we first talked to him after returning. I knew our time was limited and wanted to make sure he was prepared to move out after he returned from his trip. I said he would look for a place when he got home.
Before he left, we got along pretty well. I distanced myself from him emotionally and we could talk about logistics of family life without falling into a pattern of argumentative speech. I also ceased expressing any needs I might have had, as I had none. He was not going to be the one seeing that my needs were met. That would be me. I would make…
