Jodi Rae

January 6th. Wednesday night is church night. My youngest daughter and I headed into town that evening so she could attend her confirmation classe. As the confirmation coordinator, I was there to help out. Then, I received a text message from my middle daughter. She mentioned that Dad was driving her into town to drop her off at the church so I could assist her with a paper due the next day. My first thought—literally the first thought that crossed my mind—was, "That's strange; Jon never...

That night, after the notifications wouldn’t stop, I knew I needed a plan. A plan to tell him we were done and not fall back into believing it wouldn’t happen again because it would. Deep down, I knew that. I needed a plan to tell my girls, to tell my family, to tell his family. The first thing I did was take screenshots. I didn’t do it for him, or even for them, I did it for me. Proof, yes, but also a reminder. A reminder not to forgive and forget. I had done that before, and we see where I...

It all started during winter break. I was home during the day, we made the choice early in our marriage that I would stay working at the school so a parent could be with our girls as much as possible. We didn't want our girls to spend 12-14 hours a  day in daycare. M y husband at the time worked in construction, often 60+ hours a week, frequently out of town. He had been laid off for the winter, so I was home, paying more attention than usual to his behavior. I had noticed little things...