After 48 Years of Marriage, Woman Disappears in the Evenings and Hides Her Body in Long Sleeves – Story of the Day

Richard and Beth had been married for decades. Theirs seemed to be a marriage meant to last a lifetime until something happened that almost broke them apart.

Richard and Beth were college sweethearts. They had met when Beth was in her first year of college and Richard his last. Theirs was the storybook love-at-first-sight situation.

The two met on the campus grounds, and it was love at first sight. Beth thought Richard looked handsome and confident, while he loved Beth's beauty and naivety.

Soon after they met, they began dating and often strolled the streets at night gazing at the stars. While the bright city lights excited Beth, she often felt intimidated by the chaos. She was, however, thankful to have Richard.

They soon fell in love and promised to marry once they finished college. Several years later, the happy couple walked down the aisle in the presence of their families and friends.

Theirs was a marriage of bliss, and two years after their beautiful wedding, they welcomed their first baby together -- a daughter. Two years after that, they had their son.

They were now empty-nesters, but they were not any less in love. Age, however, was catching up with them. Beth's hair quickly turned gray, and she began worrying about her looks.

She tried dyeing her hair to get rid of the grays. She also took up exercises to keep her body in shape. And while this worked for some time, she could not help but worry about what would happen when she got older.

At some point, her exercises stopped working, and other age-related changes became more pronounced. The wrinkles on her face were more visible, and her beautiful shape disappeared.

Beth was devastated. She figured that her husband would soon leave her for a younger woman. One evening, all her solutions to looking younger had failed, and she had run out of ideas. She decided to confide in a friend, so she made the call.

"Hi, Martha? I was wondering, how do I burn all this fat build-up on my tummy?" she began as soon as her long-time friend picked up the phone. "I've tried everything!" she cried.

"Slow down, Beth," said Martha, chuckling. "I've been going to this fat-burning massage place just three blocks away. You should try it."

"Why have you never shared this with me?" Beth demanded. The friends chatted for a while, and immediately after the call ended, Beth got on her laptop and searched the address Martha had given her. She made sure to book an appointment for the very next day.

That night, Beth tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Her husband was concerned, but she reassured him that she was okay. She was excited about the possibility of gaining her old body back.

At the first light of dawn, Beth was up. She quickly made some breakfast and finished up her house chores. She had scheduled her appointment for seven o'clock p.m. and time could not have moved any slower.

As soon as the clock hit 6.30 p.m, she was out the door. Her first session was successful, and she hoped to start seeing results soon. However, her joy was quickly cut short. She began noticing bruises all over her body.

She did not know what to tell her husband, and she began hiding the bruises with long-sleeved tops. Nevertheless, she continued attending her sessions and hiding them from her husband.

Beth was retired, and when her evening outings started to become frequent, Richard began to suspect that something was going on. His attempts at getting her to open up were met with mumbles. That evening, he decided to confront his wife.

"Beth, what is going on? Where do you go in the evenings?" asked Richard, concern written all over his face.

"Uhm...to...to meet up with some friends," she mumbled, barely audible.

"But your friends are only free on the weekends," he responded.

"I have some who have free weekday evenings," she blurted out.

Richard let it go, but he was far from convinced. He started getting suspicious. He also wondered why his wife often wore long-sleeved tops even when the house was warm.

One day, as his wife was making some cookie dough, Richard tried to pull up her sleeves so they would not get messy, but Beth quickly pulled away. Richard was now sure that Beth was hiding something. He just wasn't sure what.

His only conclusion was that his wife of 48 years was cheating on him. He decided to follow her the following day. As soon as she left, he followed her to the massage parlor but could not get in.

He returned home more confused than he was when he left. "Why would my wife be hiding her massage sessions from me?" he wondered.

That evening, Richard decided to confront his wife. He sat her down on their favorite couch and told her, "Beth, my love, I can tell something has been off the last few weeks. What's going on?"

Beth stammered for a while, and when words did not work, she started crying. Richard took her in his arms and comforted her. When she'd cooled down, she confessed that she had been going to the massage parlor to cut some weight.

"I know I'm wrinkled and out of shape, and I was afraid you would leave me," she cried. "The long-sleeved shirts are to hide my bruises from the massages."

Richard could not believe what he was hearing. He hugged his wife and told her to stop worrying as he still loved her no matter what. He ran his fingers over Beth's bruises as she winced in pain.

They had a lengthy heart-to-heart as Richard assured Beth of his unconditional love for her. He then asked her to stop beating herself up about her appearance and immediately helped her cancel the painful massage appointments.

What can we learn from this story?

• Insecurities are always from within. Beth struggled with her body image for so long, thinking her husband no longer thought her beautiful. Only to realize he loved her just as much as he had when they were younger.
• A problem shared is a problem half-solved. If Beth had only spoken to her husband about her worries, she would have known early enough not to put herself through excruciating pain trying to keep fit.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a boy who returned home for Thanksgiving but was met with a shocking reality that the woman he thought to be his mother was not.

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