At My Wedding to a Man 40 Years Older Than Me, an Old Woman Warned Me to Check His Desk Drawer — Before It Was Too Late

that preceded his actual departure — and then one morning he was gone, and the note he left was brief and addressed, she had always thought, not to her but to some version of himself that needed to believe he had been considerate about it. She had not heard from him since. She had stopped expecting to.