The opera was every bit as boring as

I imagined it would be. I tried to put my arm around my wife a couple of times as we watched, but she brushed my hand off and gave me a look that told me how inappropriate I was being.

In fact, I couldn't remember the last time she smiled at me, or laughed with me. I couldn't remember the last time we had a conversation that didn't entail her bitching at me for something.

I had been resigned to my fate for a while now. The marriage wasn't all bad and there had been glimmers of hope that it might get...