The Strawberry Letter: Next Door and Down The Street

Subject: Next door and down the street

Dear Steve and Shirley, I’m married to mister-fix-it-all, the friendly handyman that runs to help single women when something goes wrong in their home. I hope he can fix this marriage because I’m at the end of my rope with him. He runs a landscaping business and he has awesome employees that work for him and execute his vision. That frees him up to do a lot of customer service type of work and when he sees a customer with a need, it’s his duty to provide a service. That’s what he tells me, every time he gets in a sticky situation with a “customer.” Last week, I got home from the gym and he was nowhere to be found. I heard hammering next door so I went upstairs to peek over into my neighbor’s yard. Her husband died last year, so she’s maintaining the house and taking care of her young child alone. I’ve cooked for her and I’ll keep her daughter if she wants to run some errands. She’s a sweet person. My husband told her anything she needs, we’re here for her. So, I guess she needed help with her fence and he had to take his shirt off to nail a few boards together for her. I watched him and her in the backyard and the body language was very flirtatious. When he got home, I asked how he got over there and he said she texted him. I didn’t know they had each other’s numbers, but whatever, it is what he does to me all the time. Just yesterday, I saw his truck in the neighborhood skank’s yard and she’s got a live-in boyfriend that’s a flight attendant so he’s always gone. Heaven knows what she needed. I’m sick of him being openly disrespectful to me and our marriage. If he’s a landscaper, why can’t he just do that? Is he seeking praise from the women or does he want more than that?