Posting under under the “Off My Chest” sub on Reddit, one man sought advice from fellow Redditors about the decision he was about to make after overhearing his wife’s conversation with her friend.
During the past ten years, the man suffered from a severe degenerative disease that lowered the quality of his life to the extent that he was no longer able to make most of the things that made him happy once. In fact, he wasn’t able to walk more than 20 feet or carry anything heavy. As a result, he put his career on hold and spent most of his days at home.
However, the only thing that remained constant was the help he was getting from his wife and the love he was receiving from his son.
Knowing that his wife had a lot on her plate, he often asked her if taking care of him was too much for her, but her answer was always a resounding no. She constantly assured him that she was there for him for whatever he needed.
One day, as he was putting on his shoes and was getting ready to leave the house, he overheard his wife speaking to her friend on the phone. Her words broke his heart.
Among the rest, she confessed that she was tired of being her husband’s babysitter because she was too exhausted herself. What followed was something even more devastating.
“I’d give anything to be able to have sex with a real man again,” his wife said. But she never though about actually doing that because she didn’t want to be accused of cheating on or leaving her sick husband.
“A real man? What does that make me?” the husband painfully reflected.
He said he was aware his wife was getting frustrated with his disease at times, but he had no idea she thought so low of him.
After giving the entire situation a thought, the man decided it would be for the best if he sets his wife free by saying that he was having an affair with someone so that she wouldn’t feel guilty of leaving him.
However, once he shared his story and the decision he made, Redditors advised him not to rush because his wife probably didn’t think what she said but was just venting her frustrations.
“I will also add that the way she was feeling in that moment doesn’t necessarily mean it’s her “true” feelings,” one user wrote, explaining that people do say things they don’t mean in situation of frustration.
“While hurtful, I don’t think she necessarily has been pining away for you to disappear just because she’s venting to her best friend,” someone else wrote.
A third person shared how their mother would often rant about their terminally ill father by saying things similar to what OP’s wife said. “…but in the end, she’s just venting. She loves my father with all her heart…We all vent about our loved ones at some point, but we still love them.”
Eventually, OP wrote that lying about having an affair with another woman would hurt his wife’s feelings but it would set her free without her being judged by others. “She’ll be free from guilt…She will be free…from me,” he painfully asserted.
Please SHARE this story with your family and friends on Facebook and tell us what you think of this man’s decision.