All Comments on 'Every Picture Tells a Story'

I agree with anonymous. Helen, you have a strange way of presenting your point. The wars you refer to are horrific but they hardly compare to two people getting their rocks off regardless of who gets hurt, ignoring vows and promises.

A tale that should be required reading for all newlyweds. Thank you Q!

somewhere east of Omaha

RE: Helen1899, Fredbrown, and the latest Anon. Helen's contention that avoiding the offending spouse is cowardly is bull. Betrayed spouses can be psychologically 'wired' differently to this kind of trauma, and trauma it is, even physical. This happened to a sibling, who with his wife were very close to me and my wife. She has an extended affair, and my brother just chose to end their marriage and refused to communicate save thru his attorney, save for certain practical considerations. My SIL tried talking to us many times to intervene with him on her behalf, and our refusal was extremely painful. She was a nice person, but too misguided. Both their pain was physical, but the bond was shattered, and he wasn't a coward. Just wanted to end it and put it all behind him, while she was in denial that they could somehow 'salvage it all'. He didn't want a confrontation over something he knew was already over. His decision was then to cut his loss and move on since they had no children. It's not about cowardice or its opposite but simply about two different choices on how to proceed.

To Fredbrown, the insinuation that many of 'us' are potentially just as 'a-holes' as the offending spouses here is also bull. Marital partners always have choices regarding loyalty and fidelity. You CHOOSE. Their choices and actions made them 'a-holes'. My wife and I have been married for 37 years with two adult children, and we have both had 'opportunities' we rejected. We even spoke of those situations with an eye of avoiding compromising ourselves. Such propriety is also a form of respect to each other, and those around us also married. My wife is Colombian-American and her expression of those who violate this is 'gentes sin respeto'. People without respect. That is what these offenders were. Qhml1 is like Ohio, Laptop Writer, and some others in capturing this dynamic beautifully.

Reading previous comments I am amazed at the amount of people calling them cowards for refusing to speak to a cheater. I feel that that dialogue should happen, but I don’t feel that the lack should be called out as cowardice. 5 stars.

Bill S.

Well done Ben 5*

4/5

Amy/ Josh age not mentioned in the story, maybe they were both too immature for married life and concepts of love and faithfulness. Neither loved or respected their spouse - 12 sober couplings are not drunken accidents or situation spinning out of control. I can understand Josh - whatever he felt about his wife, he was about to loose family (children). Amy's initial reaction makes little sense... unless it was about safety net she was about to loose. Her crying when observing Ben&family I suppose is related to children she did not have, not Ben (whom she never loved)

4 Stars on this one from GW . Maybe a little more intro on the MC's would have helped a lot

To the commenters here, you either believe you are worth something or not. If you are worth something, depriving your ex-spouse of that is burn enough in most cases. You move on. Life finds a way. Cheaters are just more collateral damage from casual sex, and when that damage comes your way, you route around it.