Member-only story
I Should Never Have Stayed Married
Why we stay long after we should have left
I knew within the first several years something was terribly wrong. I married a man I no longer recognized. Making it even more confusing, we had dated nearly six years before our wedding day.
How could someone be so different?
I would keep my secret since I had married a great guy who everyone loved.
The only person I would confide my truth to was his sister. Because I loved her like a best friend and I knew no matter what he did she would still love him.
I knew my family and friends would not.
We get ourselves into unfortunate relationships for a variety of reasons.
Maybe we ignore our instincts, rush into marriage, see the best in someone, think we can fix them, are too young, too different or we just can’t seem to get along. You name it, there are lots of different explanations for why a marriage doesn’t work.
Mine was narcissism.
It exposed itself within months of being married.
If I’m completely honest, as soon as we got engaged but I didn’t recognize it. I had seen many people get engaged and unexpected conflicts arise. I assumed it was the stress of wedding planning.
