My husband had simply decided that his wife and children were no longer part of the life he wanted. I was devastated, but I had two children who still needed dinner, school uniforms, and someone to tell them everything would be all right. So I cried when they were asleep and smiled when they woke up. I took extra shifts at work. I learned how to fix things around the house. I attended school meetings alone, celebrated birthdays alone, and sat in hospital waiting rooms alone whenever one of the children got sick. On Father's Day, Emily once asked me, Mom, why doesn't Daddy love us anymore? I held her close. I don't know, sweetheart," I whispered. "But his decision doesn't mean you are unworthy of love. Michael stopped asking about his father altogether. Years passed. Emily grew into a compassionate woman who became a nurse. Michael studied engineering and eventually started a family of his own. I was proud of them. We weren't rich, and our lives hadn't always been easy, but we had survived.