I Didn't Take My Wife's Fear of Ghosts Seriously and Soon Paid for It – Story of the Day

It's quite unfortunate but I failed to take my wife's fear of ghosts seriously even though she threatened to leave me. I ended up paying for it.

I should have listened. That's all I could say to myself as I stared at the divorce documents in front of me. Some part of me found it funny, but a more significant part was in despair. How could this be happening to me?

I poured more wine and thought back to where it all began — house hunting. Meg, the woman I'm about to part ways with, and I were keeping our eyes out for a property we could purchase.

Unfortunately, we were not too financially buoyant, so we were extra picky because we needed an excellent place to match our budget.

We wanted it to be commutable to work and within walking distance to a train that goes to the city, so imagine my delight when I discovered one that ticked all our boxes. Though the house was a bit outdated, it was perfect enough to move in immediately.

I was aware of how competitive it was to secure a house, and I was acutely aware of the perks attached to the property, which meant other people looking for a place were too.

This made me put in an offer for the house immediately and schedule a meeting with the realtor to tour it and sign the necessary documents of ownership.

I also did a Google search of the address, looking for news articles or anything about the former owners. It turned up an obituary of the former owner with the house's address. The man had apparently died peacefully in his home in January 2021.

That bit of information did not phase me, nor did it dampen my desire to have the property, but I wasn't so sure about my wife, so I chose to keep it from her, thinking what she didn't know couldn't hurt her.

In truth, I was worried she would freak out if she learned about the obituary, and she would make us cancel the purchase, which would put us right back where we started — homeless.

But I had a change of heart at the last minute and told her about my discovery. Just as I predicted, she flared up and made us back out of the deal. We argued about it when we returned to our apartment.

"Meg we can't lose this opportunity," I told her. "This house is perfect for us; it has enough rooms, it's close to a school, and it's not too far from the train station."

"But a man died in that place hon," she pleaded. "How could you possibly feel at ease staying there?"

"Er, maybe because I didn't murder him?," I said. "It says he died peacefully babe, that has to count for something, right?"

"It does not change the fact that a man drew his last breath there!" she shouted. "If you had kept this a secret until after we signed the papers, I would have divorced you."

I kept mute at that, and she left to sulk. Living in a place where someone had passed on did not bother me, so I could not understand why it disturbed her so much.

I thought she was fooling around, so I didn't take her threats seriously. Then one week ago, I went out for a deal and returned to see our apartment devoid of her things. She had moved back in with her mom.

I went over and begged for hours before she finally agreed to join me on a tour of the house. I wanted her to see there was nothing scary about the place.

We arrived at the house, and everything was going well. We checked all the rooms, and she calmed down. We made up, and she had even promised to return to our apartment the following day. But what happened next would spiral to the events leading to my situation today.

She was telling me about a mental list of things we would need to decorate when we heard a noise like footsteps. I immediately decided it was the wind, but my wife was spooked. She burst into tears and ran out of the house to lock herself in the car.

On our drive home, she did not say a word to me, and in the evening, she sent me a message that she was filing for divorce. I really should have listened.

What did we learn from this story?

• Communication is essential, but it is useless without understanding. Meg let her fiancé know she had no desire to move into such a house, but he was adamant. He heard her words but did not truly listen.
• When you're in a relationship, never make decisions alone. Meg would have left her boyfriend even earlier had he kept that secret from her until after the purchase. He did right by telling her everything so they could make the right decision.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a girl who left her boyfriend because of his job.

This account is inspired by our reader's story but written by a professional writer. All names have been changed to protect identities and ensure privacy. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.