THE OTHER WOMAN

My alarm clock didn't need to go off anymore after the discovery of my husband's infidelity after 20 years of marriage.  Sleep deprivation wasn't just a word anymore in my mind it was the way I began living my life.  I had also sucumbe to the reality that I just couldn't get through another day without popping a pill to calm my nerves.  I relied on my little white pills to get me by and help manage the dream state that took over me. I was never one to take medicine but now I relied heavily on them to get me by as the seconds slowly ticked on the hands of time.  I never knew the feeling of depression, nor the feeling of a nervous break down up until that one day.  That "one day" that I found out about the other women.   The other women that slept in my bed for over three years by my husbands side.  The woman that I almost lost my husband to.  My story ached to be attached to paper in black in white for the world to hear.

As an adolescent of the 1970's I grew up in a small town.   The population was under 10,000 residents.  People would sometimes joke about seeing horses and buggies passing  through our community because of  how small our town was.  It was one of those areas with old scenic building aligning the streets and so small that if you blinked you may just pass the town as your driving through it.  I enjoyed growing up there in a small home hand built by my father.  I was an only child between my mother who was 40 and my 55 year old dad.  They both had children from their previous marriages.  My siblings were much older and no longer lived in our home. I was always a bit lonely and shy and  a bit of an introvert growing up.  I didn't have neighbors to play with and didn't make friends while at school.