Sarah Albertson: "He was a good man, but he was dull"
Her Story
After Sarah's first date with Richard, she didn't plan on seeing him again. But after getting fired from her job and facing a July 4 weekend alone, she called him back. He was different from the guys she normally dated, but he filled a void. "I was very lonely and insecure—and unlucky in love," she says. "I thought he was as good as it would get for me."
They married, moved from Manhattan to Santa Barbara and started a family. "My life seemed full, but it wasn't. I didn't love my husband," she says. "I faulted myself for not liking him more—he was a good man, but he was dull."
Wake-Up Moment
One night, Sarah came home late, exhausted and looking for comfort. Instead, she found her husband and two children asleep in her bed—leaving no room for her. After putting her kids to bed, she decided that she couldn't pretend anymore. "My husband initiated sex," Sarah recalls. "And I started crying. He asked, 'What's wrong?' I said, 'I don't want to do this anymore.'" He didn't fight it.
Resolution
"I had finally found the courage to leap," she says.
Sarah signed up for Match.com several months after the split. "Everybody told me it was too soon to date," she recalls. "I was like, 'I've waited my whole life for romance.'"
Through Match, Sarah met Adam, who she married in 2000. Their relationship isn't perfect—"we have disagreements that leave me frustrated—but I feel passionate about him. That's the big difference."
