Post by Laurita Eberechi (@laurita_uzor)

He became my solace.

My escape.

The place where I could breathe when my marriage felt like a room with no windows.

I told him everything.

The fights.

The in-sults.

The tears.

Even the intimate details of my marriage.

He listened without making me feel like a burden.

And whenever Nonso hurt me, I would reach for my phone and tell my friend what had happened.

Then one day, everything changed.

Nonso beat me so badly that my eye was almost blinded.

I looked at myself and realized I had finally reached the edge of what I could survive.

That day, I told my friend:

I’m done.

Not “I’m tired.”

Not “I need a break.”

Not “Maybe things will change.”

I said, “I’m done with this marriage.”

And my friend did something I never expected.

He quietly arranged a house for me in Lagos.

I lived in Abuja with my husband, and suddenly, I had somewhere to go.

I didn’t announce my departure.

I didn’t negotiate.

I didn’t give Nonso another opportunity to convince me that he would change.

I simply left.

One day, I was there.

The next, I was gone.

My lawyer wrote to him about the divorce.

Nonso tried to reach me.

I had changed my number.

I stopped responding on Facebook.

I blocked him everywhere.

He created new accounts to contact me.

I still didn’t respond.

Because for the first time in years, I wasn’t trying to save my marriage.

I was trying to save myself.

I had given that marriage my youth.

My patience.

My forgiveness.

My tears.

My body.

My hope.

I had given it almost everything I had.

And when there was nothing left to give, I finally understood something:

Sometimes leaving is not the failure of a marriage.

Sometimes leaving is the first successful thing you do for yourself.

So I walked away.

Quietly.

Completely.

And for the first time since I had said “I do,” I chose another phrase.

I do not.

I do not accept this anymore.

I do not return anymore.

I do not explain myself anymore.

I do not stay where love has become another name for pain.

And that was the end of my first marriage.

Part 2 coming up 👌🏽
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He became my solace. My escape. The place where I could breathe when my marriage felt like a room...

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