Dear Jane

Dear Jane,

It took me a few hours to settle the words you penned me, as I was confused over your questions and your response. You are someone I truly appreciate and adore. I know it is not your fault for my absence in this timeframe as it has been a delicate and painful situation for me, but in spite of it all, I have maintained my commitment to being up front with you and communicating with you everything that has occurred, even as I was afraid my wife would find out and become enraged by the communication. You of all know my terrible situation here. You must know this is not any sort of “safety” that I go back to. You of all people know I do not “obey” her, in fact I fight her and defend myself daily from her disrespect and cruelty. I have been brutally abused for countless years by my mad wife, physically and emotionally and you know that when you go into a relationship when someone has this uneven misuse of power over someone, they will manipulate, they will emotionally black mail, they will threaten with financial ruin and physical threats, they will torment you—until you give them what they want. The worst part of all of this trying to leave. She makes it worse than hell. Her own family has tormented me and made me feel as if I was the crazy one. I thought you understood. I’ve been explaining this to you for months. These sorts of relationships aren’t as easy to escape as it looks. Just because I am a man, does not mean it is so easy for me to leave. I’ve tried to leave several times. It’s not so easy.

What’s the point? I thought you knew that too. The point is that I love you. As my best friend and as someone I don’t ever want to lose.

Yours,

Edward