Escape Plan Step 108: Keep Talking to Your Ex

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]I'd been talking to John. He told me how my ex had reacted when he got home and finally saw I was gone. First of all, his flight had been delayed for hours, but John said when he finally walked in the house, my ex just went from room to room saying, "I can't believe she took that. I can't believe she's gone." John said he stayed with him that night to [music] make sure he'd be okay. And sometime overnight, unbeknownst to either of us, my ex sent me an email. In the email, he apologized over and over again. He admitted that he hadn't been a good husband and he was ashamed of who he became. Then he [music] begged me not to give up on us. He said that if I still thought there was a chance that the person who loved me and supported me and who could be good to me was inside of him, please give him the chance to try.

[00:00:39]>> [music] >> You know, I reread that email when I was writing this series and it still broke my heart. My ex and I ended up having a phone call that morning mediated by John and afterward I felt depressed and so confused. I had told my ex I was not coming back >> [music] >> right now, but I also told him we could pause on a divorce and see if things could get better. And this, this moment is the part of abusive relationships that is so difficult to understand when you're outside them. Leaving someone, even escaping [music] someone, does not magically shut off your love or affection for them. if you had to execute a seven-month escape plan, even if they've done some truly terrible things. So, Escape Plan is not a triumphant story where [music] I left and never looked back. This is a true story of what it actually took >> [music] >> to execute a complicated, terrifying, emotionally devastating, powerful escape plan.