I Was Christmas Shopping With My Mother-in-Law When I Saw My Husband Holding Another Woman’s Hand—Then She Whispered, “Don’t React. Watch Me.”

He responded:

“I could never cheat.”

Something about the certainty bothered me.

I did not need promises from strangers.

I needed behavior over time.

That relationship ended for completely ordinary reasons.

Progress.

PART 60 — ELEANOR’S CHRISTMAS RULE

Every December, Eleanor and I still meet once.

Sometimes shopping.