Sarah sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, crying silently.

Her husband Jesse had just stormed out after a fight. She didn’t know if he was coming back. Things had gotten bad recently. They were having problems in their marriage and at home.

Jesse recently lost his job and was having trouble finding another. They were behind on bills, and Sarah was getting worried about the future.

Jesse and Sarah met in high school but were never a couple until well after graduation. They dated and married other people just out of high school and had kids from their first marriages.

Sarah’s daughter and son lived with them, and Jesse’s son lived with his mother across town. Sarah got along with Jesse’s ex-wife and even got along with her ex-husband, most of the time. They were better apart than they ever were together.

Sarah and her ex never did have good communication, but she and Jesse did. She didn’t understand what was going on, but she knew that things were not good.

Jesse was usually the calm one, but Sarah could tell that losing his job recently shook his confidence. He had become short tempered, with a very small fuse.

Sarah was glad that the kids were gone for the fight, but she wasn’t sure what to tell them when they returned home. Maybe Jesse just needed a moment to think, and so did she.

Sarah sat at the table replaying the fight in her head. It all started when she asked about the electric bill. She asked for input about which account it should come from.

Jesse just said he didn’t know, and start yelling at her. He didn’t know where the money was going to come from. She tried to calm him down but he just started throwing things, got his coat, walked out and slammed the door.

Sarah knew that they could pay the bill, and she knew that they had spent more on credit cards than she liked and those were behind, but the important bills were paid.

Jesse had been out of work for about 2 weeks. He was laid off from his job, due to his company being slow. Jesse was hoping to get called back, but as the weeks went by, he seemed more stressed about it.

Sarah thought about things over recent weeks, and she knew that he wasn’t sleeping well. He wasn’t eating well either, but he was drinking more. That usually caused more problems.

She didn’t think that he would ever hit her, but she knew that losing his job took its toll on him. She knew that he was looking for another job, that was less likely to have layoffs and cause this level of stress, but it was hard in the town where they lived.

Sarah thought about calling Jesse but decided to let him cool off. She had to get to work, so she finished her coffee and went to get dressed. When she left for work, her eyes were red and puffy, but she wasn’t crying any more.

Sarah loved Jesse. She knew that he was going through a hard time, but she wished he would talk to her. She knew that they would get through this, together.

Come back next week, for Jesse’s side of the story.