Emotional affair damages trust

Dear Amy: My husband and I have been together for over 31 years and for the most part have had an amazing marriage and partnership. He is truly my life partner.

I am, though, struggling with my insecurity stemming from an “emotional affair” he had with a colleague about six years ago. They had the opportunity to travel together and connected emotionally. He said he was unhappy with our marriage and fantasized about being with this other woman. He got to the point that he was willing to leave our marriage to pursue this relationship. I felt blindsided.

Fortunately, he did not act on his emotions, and after marriage counseling and reigniting our commitment our marriage has blossomed into something wonderful; I am truly blessed.

However, he still works with this person. Although they no longer travel alone, she occasionally joins him for business dinners. They have gone to lunch alone and he has to interact with her daily. He is open with me, and I am grateful for that.

However, I sometimes let fear take control, which opens the door to the insecurity. I worry about our relationship and fear that I will be blindsided once again. How do I move past this? How do I let go of the fear and totally trust him?

You are providing a tem- plate and an example for how couples can recover and reconnect after an affair. Congratulations on your success. This sort of recovery is especially challenging when the two people involved in the affair are colleagues.

However, your husband should not be having lunch or dinner alone with his affair partner. This may seem like splitting hairs, since they interact at work during the day, but sharing a meal alone together outside of the workplace environment is different — and you know it is different because of the way it makes you feel. Don’t simply be grateful for your husband’s transparency — ask him to take this very common-sense step to shore up your emotional security.

You two should also commit to continuing occasional couples counseling — just to check in, tweak your progress and mark your success.