At 40, I thought I knew my wife, Jennifer. So when she packed her bags for what she claimed was a work retreat with a colleague, I had no reason to doubt her. That illusion shattered when I bumped into Molly—her supposed travel companion—at the grocery store. Molly hadn’t seen Jennifer in over a week. That’s when I knew I’d been lied to. I rushed home, checked Jennifer’s email, and found a reservation at a romantic resort—booked for one.

I drove two hours north to Sunset Bay Resort, where I found Jennifer lounging by the pool, looking more relaxed than I’d seen her in years. She was shocked to see me. When I asked why she came here alone, her answer floored me: she needed space—from me, from our life, from the restrictions she said she’d lived with for years. It wasn’t another man. It was about food, freedom, and exhaustion from constantly catering to my extreme eating preferences.

Jennifer explained that nearly a decade of planning meals and vacations around my limited diet had worn her down. While I thought I was being considerate by staying quiet or letting her choose places, she felt like she was shrinking herself to fit my comfort zone. She told me she loved me but could no longer sacrifice her joy to avoid upsetting my routine. For her, this solo trip was a taste of the life she missed—trying new things without guilt.

She came home days later to collect her things. We didn’t argue. There was nothing left to say. Now, four months later, I sit alone, trying a Caesar salad for the first time. It’s not about food—it never was. It’s about how I never realized how much someone I loved was giving up to keep the peace. And by the time I saw it, it was too late.