Woman leaves husband over Valentine's Day gift

An Australian woman has made the decision to leave her husband of 15 years after purchasing her own Valentines’ Day gift.

The gift was a notebook called ‘What I Love About You by Me’ and was meant to be filled in by a loving spouse and then gifted on the most romantic day of the year.

After filling out the notebook as honestly as possible, the wife went home, packed up her things, and left.

Read more: The nation's longest running divorce is finally complete

“From the very first page I was trying to think of lovely things to write to him, but I just couldn’t,” the 42-year-old told 9Honey.

“Instead, I responded as honestly as I could.

“My first realisation was that I could NEVER EVER EVER give this gift to my husband. My second realisation was that I needed to leave him.”

One page promted the woman to respond to the statement, "If you wanted to, you could easily..."

And she wrote, "make me happy".

On another page the newly-single wife needed to complete a sentence that began with, "I love remembering the time we..."

She wrote, "did things together".

Page 30 asked her to finish the sentence, "It is so incredibly funny when you..."

She wrote, "think you can fix things with words".

Another page said, "I still can't believe you..."

And she wrote, "are such a terrible husband".

The only thing she could think to answer to the prompt, "I love how you love..." was with the words "our children".

On page 50 the woman had to fill in the blank for the sentence, "Nobody can ... like you" and she wrote, "disconnect".

She completed the sentence, "I love how you make..." with "excuses".

On page 13 she completed the sentence, "I wish I had known you when..." with "you were capable of true love".

The newly single mother-of-three says since packing up and leaving, she hasn’t looked back.

“It’s been hard and I know I am in the ‘honeymoon phase’ of the breakup, but I know that no matter how difficult it gets, it was the right decision.

“And long overdue.”

In this episode of Life Bites, journalist Emmy Kubainski and clinical psychologist Kirstin Bouse talk about the difference between an unhappy marriage and an unsalvageable one:  

Valentine’s Day gift stalls have popped all over the country in the lead up to the annual celebration on February 14.

This woman’s story is a reminder that not all couples will be making plans to celebrate the evening together.

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day? Email me at jabi@nine.com.au.

If you and your partner are experiencing difficulties contact Relationships Australia on 1300 364 277.