Sat up in bed, I watched my husband admiring himself in the mirror.
‘I’m like that bloke from the film,’ Paul, then 42, smirked.
We’d just watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and I snorted with laughter when I realised he meant Brad Pitt.
‘You’re absurd!’ I chuckled. But that was what I loved about Paul, he had a brilliant sense of humour and always made me laugh.
It was 2012 and we’d been together since teenagers after growing up on the same street. Now we had three kids, Jess, then 20, James, 17, and Katie, 14, and we were grandparents to Jess’ two kids, Daisy, two and Charlie, who was just a few months old.
Paul was the fun parent and grandad – always dancing and singing to his beloved Elvis, belting out The Wonder of You at any opportunity. Only, a year later, in 2013, Paul’s younger brother passed away suddenly, and the funloving man we all knew started to disappear. Grief just consumed him and he pushed me away.
For years, we struggled on and time just seemed to pass so quickly, especially when Jess had our third grandchild, Mila, in April 2021. But that Christmas, I had to face the truth – Paul and I just weren’t happy any more and we agreed to separate.
It was hard for both of us, but in January 2022, Paul moved into his mum’s and I hoped a bit of time and space would help us heal.
Then, that Valentine’s Day, a friend sent me a screen shot of a Facebook post that Paul was tagged in. A woman I didn’t recognise, Sonja, had checked into a restaurant with him.
‘Out for dinner with my hubby,’ the caption read.
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