How I Fought for My Marriage...and Won

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"Is he having an affair? Why else would he ask for a separation?"

This extremely productive comment came courtesy of my mother, only a day or two after my husband had asked for a trial separation.

She meant well, but her comment stuck with me, and I couldn't help but think of that female co-worker he seemed to hang out with regularly. It didn't help that, only a few days after The Separation Talk, he'd left for a weekend snowboarding trip with his work buddies, a group that included her. The timing was pretty terrible.

"He's not having an affair," said my shrink. "If he's willing to see a couples therapist, then he doesn't have anything to hide." I pulled at the threads on her couch. I stared at my knees. I thought about it. It made sense.

But she was everything I wasn't. Someone he could nerd out with over Web development. Someone who was up for bar-hopping and karaoke every damn night of the week. Someone who actually wanted to go snowboarding.

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