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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Three days. That’s how long my mother had been missing.<\/p>\n
My mom, who is 67 and has Alzheimer’s, wandered out of the house while I was away, taking the kids to summer camp. Nate, my husband, was supposed to watch her while I was gone.<\/p>\n
When I got the call from Nate that Mom was missing, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I rushed home, filled with dread. For three agonizing days, we searched everywhere, involving the police and putting up flyers. It was as if she had vanished.<\/p>\n
On the fourth morning, the police brought her home. Relief washed over me, but when I glanced at Nate, he looked… nervous. I pushed my unease down, thinking he felt guilty for not keeping a better eye on her.<\/p>\n
As I hugged my mother, she stared over my shoulder at Nate and pointed directly at him.<\/p>\n
“You need to arrest him,” she said, her voice thin but sure.<\/p>\n
Confused, I asked what she meant. Then, in a moment of lucidity, she told me she had seen Nate in our bedroom with another woman three days ago.<\/p>\n
Nate shifted uncomfortably. “Claire, she’s confused,” he said. “She probably saw something from years ago…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But Mom shook her head, insisting she had seen him with a woman who wore red-bottomed shoes. She recounted how Nate had told her to leave because she didn’t live there.<\/p>\n
The room fell silent. I turned to Nate, my heart racing.<\/p>\n
“Nate, tell me she’s not… tell me this didn’t happen!”<\/p>\n
He raised his hands. “Claire, come on. She\u2019s confused. I can explain.”<\/p>\n
“Explain what? That you had an affair while I was gone?” I asked.<\/p>\n
“It didn\u2019t mean anything!” he insisted.<\/p>\n
But I knew. My trust shattered in an instant. The police, sensing the tension, noted they couldn’t take action; there was no evidence of a crime\u2014just my broken trust.<\/p>\n
“You can leave. Thank you for bringing my mom back,” I said to the officers.<\/p>\n
I turned to Nate. “I trusted you. Now, get out.”<\/p>\n
He looked stunned. “What?”<\/p>\n
“Get out, Nathaniel. Pack your things. I’m done.”<\/p>\n
As he packed, I let tears spill down my cheeks.<\/p>\n
“Come on, Claire-bear,” Mom said. “Let’s go make some tea and chocolate cake.”<\/p>\n
Her Alzheimer’s had taken over again, but I allowed her to lead me. I had two weeks to figure out my feelings before the kids returned. Then it would be… devastating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three days. That’s how long my mother had been missing. My mom, who is 67 and has Alzheimer’s, wandered out of the house while I was away,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n