Husband? Running away? Yeah! sure he did. At the age of forty. One has heard of little boys running away to ?teach the parents a lesson? or youth running away to get married. I can?t really say that my husband ?walked out? as in ?walking out of a marriage?, because he came back the next day.

Since it was the first time he had done that (!!!), I became worried when he didn?t call for one full day. (He conveniently left the mobile at home) So I decided to call up sis-in-law, vacationing at the parents?, to check if he was ?visiting? them. Half an hour later, every man, woman and child who had the slightest connection with my husband was ?searching? for him by calling me! When I objected, his family said they had a ?responsibility?. A ?responsibility? realized a little too late, according to the parents, as they were heart and soul into religious work while their young children fended for themselves.

Though I am able to laugh about it now, I cried buckets and buckets of tears then. A few years back I learnt to look at the positive side of any problem. But this was one where I couldn?t see any.

I was more angry than sorry. I was arguing with God why he gave me a snake when I asked for a fish, referring to His words in the Bible. Then something dawned on me. Hey! ?Running away? ran in the family (Pun?). I almost shouted with joy at the discovery. MIL had told me how FIL had disappeared. A few years back, husband?s cousin disappeared. They?d come back soon. So there was no cause for concern.

Husband came back the next day. The second reason was that he missed me. The first one was the realisation that I?d be in a financial mess, besides the emotional one. I had no steady income. We shared everything else but his financial matters. So I didn?t have a clear picture of the loans he?d taken to tide over a business loss. He realized that I could easily be cheated if he were to truly disappear. So he came back.

The outcome of the episode is that, there are two insurance policies now. His finances are in order and clearly put down on paper. Now I know all his financial dealings too. Positive side to a problem? Sure there is.