\nAs our children, Zach and Penny, fell ill and couldn\u2019t go on our planned family vacation, my husband Garrett just ditched us and went alone. Little did he know that his little \u201cme time\u201d getaway would cost him way more than he bargained for.\n
I\u2019m a nurse, and my husband\u2019s a realtor. He doesn\u2019t have a clue about the workload and mental stress I go through every single day. It\u2019s like he completely stopped caring about me or what I\u2019m dealing with. He\u2019s pulled some selfish stunts before, but this time he really crossed the line.\n
We booked a vacation at a beach resort in advance, but just a day before the flight, our kids got sick. I was about to call the airline and ask about getting a refund, but guess what my husband said?\n
\u201cI\u2019M STILL GOING ON VACATION. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I NEED A BREAK FROM WORK!\u201d
\n(Uh, do I not work too!?).\n
I thought he\u2019d come to his senses, but nope\u2014he went on the trip without us!\n
I was beyond furious, and honestly, I\u2019m seriously considering divorce. But before that, I had to teach him a lesson he wouldn\u2019t forget. My re:ven:ge was brutal, but he had it coming!\n
So, that day, I walked into his garage\n
I walked into the garage. A plan formed in my mind. The garage was Garrett\u2019s precious \u201cman cave.\u201d His fishing gear, the boat he\u2019d barely used, piles of expensive junk he\u2019d accumulated over the years.\n
\n
I spent some hours photographing everything, creating listings on the local buy-and-sell site. Within days, Garrett\u2019s prized possessions were gone, replaced by a fat wad of cash in my purse.\n
\u201cGuess what, kids?\u201d I announced. \u201cWe\u2019re going on our own special vacation!\u201d\n
\u201cAwesome! Where are we going?\u201d\n
I grinned. \u201cIt\u2019s a surprise. But I promise it\u2019ll be even better than Dad\u2019s boring old beach.\u201d\n
We arrived at the resort a few days later. When I watched my kids splash in the pool, I felt lighter than I had in years.\n
\u201cMom, watch this!\u201d Zach called. I cheered, then turned to help Penny blow up her water wings.\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a natural with them,\u201d a voice behind me said. I saw a woman about my age smiling. \u201cSingle mom?\u201d\n
I said, \u201cIt\u2019s\u2026 complicated.\u201d\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been there. I\u2019m Tessa, by the way.\u201d\n
We chatted as the kids played. It felt good to connect with someone who understood.\n
\u201cSo, what\u2019s your story?\u201d Tessa asked.\n
I told Tessa about Garrett\u2019s decision to go on our family vacation without us when the kids got sick and my selling all his precious toys and used the money to bring the kids here.\n
Tessa burst out laughing. \u201cOh my God, that\u2019s brilliant! How\u2019d he take it?\u201d\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t know yet,\u201d I admitted. \u201cBut I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll find out soon enough.\u201d\n
At that point, my phone started buzzing. Garrett\u2019s name flashed on the screen.\n
\u201cWhere the hell is all my stuff?\u201d Garrett shouted, not bothering with a greeting.\n
\u201cOh, you noticed? I thought you\u2019d be too busy \u2018living the dream\u2019 to care.\u201d\n
\u201cDon\u2019t play games, Nora. What did you do?\u201d\n
\u201cI sold it,\u201d I said simply. \u201cAll of it. Your precious fishing rods, that boat you never use, everything.\u201d\n
\u201cYou what? How could you!\u201d\n
\u201cHow could I?\u201d I interrupted. \u201cHow could you abandon your sick children for a beach vacation? How could you ignore everything I do for this family?\u201d\n
\u201cThat\u2019s different! I work hard to provide for you.\u201d\n
\u201cAnd I don\u2019t?\u201d I shot back. \u201cI\u2019m done, Garrett. Done with your selfishness, done with being taken for granted.\u201d\n
He sputtered, \u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d\n
I took a deep breath. \u201cI\u2019m saying I want a divorce.\u201d\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll regret this, Nora. I\u2019ll make sure of it.\u201d\n
I hung up, then I walked back to the pool, where Tessa was indulging in a cocktail.\n
\u201cI just told my husband I want a divorce.\u201d\n
Tessa\u2019s eyes widened. \u201cWow, that\u2019s huge. How do you feel?\u201d\n
\u201cScared,\u201d I admitted. \u201cBut also relieved? Like I can finally breathe again.\u201d\n
She squeezed my hand. \u201cThat\u2019s totally normal. Trust me, it gets better.\u201d\n
We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the kids. For the first time in years, I felt genuinely happy.\n
That night, when I tucked the kids into bed, Zach looked up at me with serious eyes. \u201cMom, are you and Dad getting divorced? I heard you on the phone. And you seem happier here without him.\u201d\n
I chose my words carefully. \u201cYour dad and I have been having problems for a while now. We\u2019re going to try to work things out, but\u2026 yes, we might get divorced.\u201d\n
\u201cOkay. As long as you\u2019re happy, Mom. That\u2019s what matters.\u201d\n
Tears pricked my eyes when I hugged him tight. \u201cWhen did you get so wise, huh?\u201d\n
The kids were asleep. Then I stood on the balcony, watching the moonlight dance on the waves. My phone buzzed with a text from Garrett, \u201cThis isn\u2019t over. I\u2019ll see you in court.\u201d\n
I took a deep breath. The road ahead would be tough, yet I felt ready to face whatever came my way.\n
I crawled into bed, and I thought about the uncertain future ahead of us. It was terrifying, but also exhilarating. For the first time in years, I felt like I was taking control of my life.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As our children, Zach and Penny, fell ill and couldn\u2019t go on our planned family vacation, my husband Garrett just ditched us and went alone. Little did he know that his little \u201cme time\u201d getaway would cost him way more than he bargained for. I\u2019m a nurse, and my husband\u2019s a realtor. He doesn\u2019t have\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[642],"tags":[818],"class_list":{"0":"post-108516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-moral-story","8":"tag-moral-touching-stories"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SICK-CHILDREN-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108520,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108516\/revisions\/108520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}