A Real-Life Jekyll and Hyde

When he was good, he was very good indeed. But when he was bad, he was horrid.

I knew many of you would be shocked when I revealed the truth about my marriage, particularly those of you who live here in Nashville. For years, I’ve watched my ex-husband carefully construct and maintain a public persona of devoted, caring husband and father and community servant. And it’s not entirely untrue — by and large, he’s been a fantastic father, and he’s certainly helped a lot of people with his news reports.

As a husband, I can tell you that when he was good, he was amazing. He was the husband I often described on my blog — funny, attentive, charming, and caring. He was my best friend. He encouraged me to talk to him about my hopes and dreams and secret worries and vulnerabilities. He spoke of our relationship as if we were experiencing the greatest love anyone had ever known and made me feel like the woman of his dreams.

But then, inexplicably, a switch would flip and just like that, the husband I thought I had married disappeared and a totally different man seemed to take his place. I began thinking of him as Jekyll and Hyde — It was the only way I could explain to myself what was happening. And as time passed, things only got worse.