(The following is a contributed article obtained through an interview.)

When you find out your wife has been cheating and unfaithful to you and your children, your world becomes a place of great pain and doubt. The foundation of love, integrity, friendship, and commitment seems to crumble underneath your feet. Nothing can prepare you for such an abrupt shift.

My marriage wasn’t perfect, like so many, but it had weathered great storms and tribulations. It also enjoyed many happy days and events. It had enjoyed far more happiness than sadness to be sure. We had been married long enough to see some of our children married and in college.

All of that said, I was not ignorant of my wife’s mental and emotional struggles as a wife and mother but I would have never thought she was capable of adultery and ending our marriage and family as well as the marriage and family of her adultery partner. I was wrong though. Horribly wrong, unfortunately.

My wife’s decisions and infidelity led her to a state of mind where she was as diluted and delusional as anyone could ever be. She was joyous in her companionship with her affair partner who was equally misguided and self-diluted in his affair with her and the sad impact it was having on both families.

A few weeks after learning about my wife’s sexual infidelity, she proudly displayed in our home a tournament medal she had won with her adultery partner. She displayed it on our family award shelf. Many awards, certificates, and trophies our family had won or earned were on display there. We also had other achievements displayed on the shelf to exhibit our family’s accomplishments.

Within our family awards, completely out of place and wholly inappropriate, sat her medal with her affair partner. She seemed incapable of recognizing how displaying her award with her adultery partner was wrong and embarrassing to our family.

Even years later, it is difficult how she could be so misguided in her thoughts to believe displaying in our home an award won with her affair partner would ever be appropriate to her husband and children. Every day, our children would be exposed to the award as a reminder of their mother’s delusions and her decision to indulge her sexual and intimate fantasies with another married man and lead two families into the discord that follows infidelity and divorce. For my wife, it was a badge of honor but for our family, it was a constant symbol of shame and disgust.

Recovering from Infidelity

If you have experienced infidelity-induced trauma caused by the emotional and sexual betrayal of your spouse, there is hope! If you are a child affected by parental infidelity, there is hope! If you are a spouse who has betrayed the trust, love, and fidelity of your marriage, there is hope! We recommend that you seek support through professional counseling and therapy as well as through groups dedicated to supporting you through this traumatic journey to recovery. You are not alone and recovery and healing are possible!

Share Your Story

The CHADIE Foundation shares personal stories of spouses and children impacted by infidelity and affairs. If you have a story you would like to share and have published, please use the contact information below to share your story with The CHADIE Foundation. Our mission is to help educate everyone about the damage infidelity, affairs, and adultery cause families and how to minimize the impact.

About the CHADIE Foundation

The CHADIE Foundation (Children are Harmed by Adultery, Divorce, Infidelity, and related Emotional trauma), helps spouses, partners, and children who adultery, affairs, and infidelity have negatively impacted. To learn more about CHADIE and how you can help, please email us at support@chadie.org or visit us at CHADIE.org.