My Marriage Was Crumbling. Then A Stranger's Stunning Confession Changed Everything.

""The thing is," he said, "I can't think about buying a mattress with you because, right now, I can't visualize our future." He explained that while intellectually he knew he loved me, when he looked at me, he felt dead inside. "It's not just you," he added, as if to soften the blow, before explaining that he felt emotionally numb and disconnected from life in general."

""We'll have to live until at least 96," he'd said when he proposed, "so we have at least 60 years together." Our marriage hadn't been perfect, but it had been filled with kindness, laughter, and family. We were supposed to grow old together - enjoying our grandchildren and doing The New York Times crossword puzzle in our rocking chairs. The idea that we could flame out after 14 years was threatening to undo me."

"I reeled as he suggested he move out for three months and share custody of our two kids while he tried to reset and heal. When I asked if he envisioned our relationship resuming after this break, he said the odds were 50/50. Putting a statistic on our potential future felt clinical - so far from the warmth and hope I'd felt when we first fell in love."

I went mattress shopping 24 hours after discovering my marriage might be over. My husband said he could not visualize our future and described feeling emotionally numb and dead inside. He suggested moving out for three months, sharing custody of our two children while he tried to reset and heal, and said the odds of resuming the relationship were 50/50. We had met later in life, married quickly, and pictured many decades together filled with kindness, laughter, and family. The abrupt possibility of the marriage ending after 14 years felt devastating and disorienting.

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