Cottage Sunshine: Okay...so what happened?

Okay… where were we?

Oh yes…I borrowed my husband’s car one day in September of 1998. My car was in the shop. Well, I probably should state here that during all the years of our marriage, I was never a snooper. I didn’t ever want to live that way. Life is too short to be doubting or living under a dark cloud of mistrust or being suspicious. I loved being happy …so why look for trouble when you have no reason to believe there is any trouble.
This particular autumn day though I borrowed his car to go on a quick trip to the grocery store. As I placed a few items in the trunk of his car, I picked up a little black pouch lying there in the trunk.

Not even thinking… I opened it.

That was the moment my sweet little life changed forever.

The contents held the evidence my husband was having an affair. I immediately drove to my mother’s house as I still had an hour before picking up the girls from school. I told my mom what I had found. My father had stepped out on my mother as I was growing up and I respected her decision to not leave my dad. There were 6 of us kids and my mother knew if she left dad, we would have had to be on welfare, as well as, losing our mother to work long hours outside the home. I respected her sacrifices on behalf of her children, as well as, her wisdom, courage and bravery in so many ways. As I talked to my mother, I made the decision to do the same… to stay with my husband.

My walk with God also helped me to come to this conclusion….

I was determined to win my husband back and to be the center of his world ~ this woman had better watch out…whoever she was! I was ready to turn on all the womanly charm & turn up the sizzle!!

And SIZZLE, I did! ;)
…Until the next piece of evidence fell into my lap. There was MORE than one woman!! My weight started shedding and shedding…and shedding. I was a wreck and becoming a skeleton.

More and more evidence was bombarding me ~ my husband had become sloppy in keeping his “dirty” little secrets that I kept stumbling on more …and more.

He turned out to be a big time playboy and tons of women…ends up he had been living this lifestyle all of our 19 yrs of marriage ~ living a double life.
This hidden lifestyle was starting to become so obvious and extreme that I had become fearful for my health. I knew I had to finish raising my daughters and someone had to be the adult here! I couldn’t take the risk of becoming ill with some outrageous disease he would pick up…
Long, long story ~ short;

I ended up filing for divorce. With the help of a dear friend, my sister and God, I pulled myself together before having a nervous breakdown.
Divorced him…being final in February 2000.

Here are the blessings:
I was able to give my girls a strong, Christian foundation with strong morals and values;

be the kind of mother I had always wanted to be;

and I was able to give my girls sweet, sweet childhood memories!

God protected and sheltered me from knowing these things, so I could have precious blessings!