In fact, we didn’t know how to argue without the fear of causing a scandal — something unbecoming of people of our stature. We didn’t know how to express resentment without feeling disloyal to our families. Or how to grow as individuals when everyone expected us to grow as a unit.
After growing up side by side, surviving chaos, and raising babies… we eventually broke under the weight of everything we never learned to say.
Or how to grow as individuals when everyone expected us to grow as a unit.
After 17 years, we finally untied the knot with less drama than a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) election. It wasn’t messy — just numb. Of course, our parents were horrified, but privately, when the papers were signed, we both finally breathed.
Five years later, I met Arthur. He felt like a breath of fresh air!
He was different — charming in a quieter way, not the performative one I was used to — divorced, and raising three kids. Arthur was 38, a high school teacher who loved poetry and classic cars. He was warm, grounded, and after years of living like a magazine ad, his authenticity was magnetic!
It wasn’t messy — just numb.