{"id":8717860,"date":"2023-01-17T01:00:17","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T09:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8717860&preview=true&preview_id=8717860"},"modified":"2023-01-17T04:53:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T12:53:29","slug":"dear-abby-i-kept-this-secret-for-30-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/17\/dear-abby-i-kept-this-secret-for-30-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Abby: I kept this secret for 30 years, and now I’m devastated by the outcome"},"content":{"rendered":"

DEAR ABBY:<\/strong> Thirty years ago, I had an affair with “Roger,” a married man. We worked together and fell in love.<\/p>\n

At the time, Roger was married with three children. My husband and I were separated, and I had one son. The 15-year age gap between us didn’t matter to me. I admired him.<\/p>\n

Roger was soft-spoken, intelligent and a gentleman. He was of Christian faith, so when he decided to divorce his wife, his partners held an intervention and bought out his equity in the company, which forced him to move out of state.<\/p>\n

Roger was a great person and struggled with the thought of leaving his family. I understood, and we parted ways. I kept informed about him as much as possible over the years but never contacted him, and we lived in different states.<\/p>\n

When he left, I was pregnant, but I didn’t tell him because so much was going on and I didn’t want the baby to be a tool. I had a son, reconciled with my husband and never told a soul. Eight years after that, my husband and I divorced.<\/p>\n