Member-only story
You Think You Know A Person
It was much worse than I ever thought
My ex and I have been divorced for almost 20 years.
We had dated in our early twenties for about 4 years when he popped the question. The wedding was lovely, and I thought we would be happy. However, I met someone else on the other side of the altar.
Ex can be charming when he wants to. But Ex, also, was an actor. No, literally. I met him at an audition. He has a BA in theatre.
Shortly after our wedding, the problems started showing up. Like, within the first 6 months. He had had a bachelor’s party with his guy friends, and he could not shut up about the stripper who entertained them that evening. I cried in our room for a week while he slept on the sofa and ignored me. He didn’t care that he hurt me and I was so distressed. I thought about moving back in with my parents (looking back, I should have). That’s when he started pressing me to become a stripper. And that talk from him never went away.
Over the years, things were alright but challenging while the kids were very young. We fought a lot about money, as we were always hurting in that area. We lived in a rental house-converted-from-a-garage; it was small. I found him a job at a boatyard fixing boat hulls, where he still works today. He adopted my oldest daughter. He was…
