At exactly 11:47 on Christmas Eve, my husband accidentally sent me a photograph of himself in a hotel bed with his mistress while I was home alone caring for our two feverish babies.

teaches those watching what love is supposed to cost.

I refused to teach my children that lesson.

I chose another.

When someone transforms love into a cage, leaving doesn’t necessarily destroy a family.

Sometimes it’s the first genuine act of protecting one.

And that was the Christmas I finally came home.