Happy 25th

After Daddy came home, the two of them tried talking through their problems. Momma apologized to him for making him feel neglected for so long. Daddy apologized to her for leaving. Everything seemed to be heading in the right direction.

One weekend, they came over to our house to drop some houseplants off. We ended up spending the day together; shopping at Target, picking up patio furniture and assembling it, and Daddy and I cooked dinner together that evening. It was nice being together, but it was still "off".

Once they got home, Daddy called me, and I could tell that he had been drinking. We talked more about his being frustrated and unhappy. He told me that he had been trying to talk through things with Momma, but that she wouldn't listen. That she didn't understand why they had to keep going through the past. He said that he didn't know what he was going to do, but that he just wanted to be happy again.

So he left again. He packed some clothes and went to his parents' house. When he didn't get the sympathy that he wanted and expected, he came back. Again. Well, another few days go by as usual. More confusion and frustration. More questioning and ignoring the problem. Then the week of my birthday came around.

That Tuesday, I had "one of those days" at school. When I came home, all I really wanted to do was complain to J about the heatherns in my class. But, to my chagrin, J brings to my attention a strange email. He had gotten an anonymous email stating that my father was having an affair with a family friend. Daddy called J to see if he had talked to Momma because she wouldn't talk to him. They spoke on the phone for a while and Daddy reassured J that it was a lie.

My mother had gotten the same email as well. Only difference, she contacted the person by phone. The woman wouldn't tell Momma who she was, but said that she knew the "mistress" very well. The person told her details about time periods and places. Momma refused to talk to Daddy at all until he came home that night.

I called Momma to ask how she was doing after hearing about this horrible lie. Unfortunately, Momma believed every word that this mystery woman said. I was furious. I yelled at my mother, asking her who she was going to believe: her husband of almost 30 years, or some woman who wouldn't even tell her name. I told her that her lack of faith in her marriage told me that she had already given up and didn't want this to succeed. And I hung up.

Well the next day, at about 7:30 in the morning, Momma called me. She told me that she just wanted to let me know that Daddy had confessed to having an affair. And that he was in love with this woman.

Tell me something: how do you walk into your job and continue about your day after news like that?