Once the retirement home was placed under court restriction, Susan had to move out. She didn't come to see me.
Richard hired a lawyer to handle her move and covered the contractual penalties and temporary accommodation costs. He'd intended to pay for them out of our joint account, but my lawyer stopped him in time. Richard had to use his own pension instead.
For the first time, he discovered that taking responsibility for someone else had a direct cost to his own life.
My son sounded hesitant when he told me about it. "Mom, Dad's been in a terrible state lately. He asks every day when you're coming back.
"You can tell him I'm working for the term of my contract.
"He also says you abandoned the family."
"I'm not the one who abandoned it."
My son fell quiet for a moment. "I know."
Fo
