Her husband, surprisingly, did not argue.
He didn’t yell, didn’t defend himself, didn’t insist she change her mind.
He simply accepted it.
Later that afternoon, he approached her gently, offering coffee and reassurance. He wasn’t dismissive. He wasn’t defensive. He simply tried to understand, even if he didn’t fully agree.
Andrea apologized for cancelling the holidays but held firm.
“I cannot pretend like I did with Hillary,” she told him.
“I cannot bite my tongue this time.”
She knew that if she pushed herself into a room full of people who voted differently, the anger and sadness simmering in her chest would erupt into conflict — conflict she didn’t want to unleash on his family.
Distance felt like the only respectful choice.
