After My Wife Was Gone, I Found a Divorce Decree from 20 Years Ago, and the Family Secret That Followed Changed Everything

The Years I Couldn’t Fully Remember

There was a stretch of time I didn’t like to talk about, mostly because it didn’t feel like mine.

Years ago, I’d been in a serious accident during a winter storm. I spent weeks in the hospital and longer than that trying to put my life back together. The doctors warned that memory issues were common. Some people recovered quickly. Others carried blank spaces for years.

I had blanks.

Claire rarely pushed me to revisit that period. When I asked questions, she answered what I asked, but she didn’t pile on extra details. At the time, I was grateful. I didn’t want to remember pain, fear, or helplessness. I wanted the present. I wanted normal.