I had an affair

     That's not just a catchy title but maybe not exactly what you're thinking.

     Gosh, where to start. I was most attracted to my wife because she would fight with me. Not so much physically (although we did go over the back of a friends couch while wrestling) but she would spar verbally and never give up easy. We were not what anyone would have said a match made in heaven (God does have higher plans than ours) but fighting became a lifestyle. People took bets on us lasting only days up to maybe a month or so. Nobody gave us a chance. We thought we were indestructible. Gonna show em all. It turns out we did, but it was a long hard road.

     Chris didn't work for the first two years and we fought about that all the time. Then she got a job which happened to last 10 years, I've never come close to that. Toward the end of the 90s I got the best job I've ever had. She was working graveyard and I worked 4:30-1:00am. We barely saw each other. Now don't get me wrong, we had a lot of good times together, not just a bunch of fights, but during this time things were rough.

     The crew I worked with became like family. We went bowling or to the bar on Friday nights. There were 13 of us in my immediate crew and I was good friends with many. Then there was her. We talked and talked. She became my lifeline for all things in life, the good and especially the bad. All the things I should have been confiding in my wife now went to her. She became my cheerleader. My sounding board. Emotionally I went to her for nearly everything. Things were so rough at home when I tried to talk to my wife. Everything I did or said was wrong. The fact she knew something more was wrong just added to tensions.

     If you are not familiar with the term, this is called an "emotional affair". Had it not been for her conviction of some sort it would have certainly turned into sex. I thank God often as I feel He protected me. Chris has said she would rather it have been physical than emotional. In any case it was bad and I don't recommend you try it. Not really a marriage builder.