It’s been two years since John and Jane have smiled at each other. Neither one knows when things started to get wrong. All they know now is that things are wrong. Jane doesn’t even have a wedding ring anymore to remind her of the vows she made to John. Her ring was lost two years ago but she doesn’t know when and where. They are also in major debt and on top of all this they have two kids. John is almost in the same position as Jane, but he’s thinking one step ahead of her. The divorce is at the tip of his fingers and all he needs now is the final straw from Jane. Jane willingly gave him that straw when she refused to wash the dishes. She might think that it’s no big deal but John will not take any more of Jane’s “forgetfulness”. Or at least that’s what he’s telling himself the reason is.

John comes home the next day to find his house extremely empty. Their son Jake should be home by now but he can’t find him anywhere at home. Calling his name again and again for 5 minutes doesn’t help either. Furious, John marches up the stairs into Jake’s room. Flinging the door open and expecting to find Jake, he is in shock when there is no one in his room. Frantic, John tries to think of anywhere his son could be when he sees the note on his bed. The note reads: “Dear, dad . . . and mom (if you ever look at this). I’ve decided to leave home. I can’t take it anymore. Between all the fighting and yelling I hardly even get any time to breath. You guys are so busy fighting all the time that you hardly ever notice me anymore. I can’t live like this. Hopefully with me gone, everything will be better between you two. Love Jake. . . “.

John can hardly believe what he’s reading. He would’ve never guessed that the problems with his marriage would affect his son this much. Jane rushes over immediately as soon as hears the news. Nothing is running through her mind except her son. They search his room first in order to find some last minute clues before they got out on a drive search. John stumbles upon something near his feet. Jane notices it immediately as her high school yearbook, that’s opened to the autographs page. They entire page is filled with one person’s note to Jane. Upon closer inspection, she notices that it was John who wrote this entire page in high school. They stare quietly as both of them start to read it. How could things have gotten this bad, when it seems only like yesterday when they were high school sweethearts? For a minute they almost forgot about their son. Jane quickly snaps back, wipes away the tears and heads to the car.

Like a miracle, Jake appears at the front door before Jane even leaves for the car. Jane breaks down crying with relief. John can hardly believe it, and he can do more than cry in joy. Asking him why he decided to come back, Jake responds, “because I don’t quit on the ones I love. Things can get hard sometimes but I know that you guys will always love me”. Hearing such beautiful words come out of a 5 year olds mouth surprises John and Jane. They knew that their son was brilliant but they never knew that he was this special.

Jane doesn’t want to talk to John about what happened today. After all why should she? She’s the one who has been doing all the talking for all of these years. And she knows that John will never change. Just then, before she closes her eyes and drifts to sleep, she hears a mumble across from the bed say, “I’m sorry”. That’s all it took. Two years of a bad marriage was fixed with just two words. Jane never realized that she was ignoring John this entire time. John never realized that he was too critical of Jane this whole time.

Words had the power to cure their marriage in less than the amount of time that words created it. They agreed that from their marriage was going to take a turn for the better. Realizing was important in their life brought them together. They had to learn from a little boy that a successful marriage is about falling in love with the same person over and over again. That requires understanding and compassion and an open relationship with one another.