Dear Prudence,
After 27 years of marriage and three children, my wife left. She didn’t even tell me to my face—I came home to an empty house and a letter detailing all my faults as a husband and a man. She was unhappy and had been waiting for years until our youngest was off to college. She met someone else; he made her feel like a “real woman.” This killed me. I have never cheated on my wife, always bought her flowers on Sunday, and took her out for our anniversary and her birthday. My parents were married for 60 years, and I thought we would be too. She spent all of the fall with her lover and never returned my calls. I finally got a lawyer after Christmas. He filed the papers. Then, out of the blue, my wife left me a message. Things didn’t “work out,” she made a mistake, and she wants to come home. I don’t want her to. A month ago, two months ago, I was praying for this, but not now. Our kids are ecstatic; Christmas was really hard on them. I don’t know what to do.
—Came Back Too Late