I ended my 36-year marriage after I discovered secret hotel rooms and thousands of dollars missing from our account — and my husband refused to explain himself. I thought I’d made peace with that decision. Then, at his funeral, his father got drunk and told me I had it all wrong.

I’d known Troy since we were five.

Our families lived next door to each other, so we grew up together. Same yard, same school, same everything.

Lately, my thoughts keep circling back to our childhood together, playing outside during summers that seem to last forever, while never being long enough, school dances…

We had a storybook life, and I should’ve known that type of perfection couldn’t exist in real life, that there had to be a hidden flaw rotting somewhere beneath the facade.

I’d known Troy since we were five.

We married at 20, back when that didn’t feel unusual or rushed.