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My husband might die.

I’m wide awake, lying on my back, staring at the ceiling in an unfamiliar room, while these four words loop in my head. I am staying with a friend and fellow military wife in Colorado. Earlier in the day, I tried to keep my composure. But now, in the quiet darkness, I can’t hold back my tears. The worry has set in strong, as this possibility feels very real. Much too real.

Harold might die.

My husband, my best friend and the love of my life, chose to leave me to climb a massive mountain halfway across the world . . . and he wasn’t even a climber when I met him three years ago!

The following is an excerpt from "HappiNest: Finding Fulfillment After Your Kids Leave Home"

After the marathon of child-rearing, it’s time to turn toward your spouse and nurture the bond you share. If the marriage is solid after all these years, you can focus on the two of you. You can look forward to navigating this transition with novelty, fun, and a sense of adventure.

The following is an excerpt from "An Exceptional Romance"

Have you ever heard of the one-degree principle? It refers to reaching a destination. For example, for every degree you fly off course, you will miss your desired destination by ninety-two feet for every mile flown. So if you were flying from JFK to LAX and were off by one degree, you would be over fifty miles off course.

People say it all the time: "The very things that first attract you to your spouse often end up being the very things that annoy you." And these "very things" can even tear couples apart. Many spouses (of all ages) shrug their shoulders and passively give in to this "truth," slowly watching their marriages wilt. It’s heartbreaking to see this pattern repeat itself over and over again. This heartbreak is what drove me to research this topic extensively and write this book—because I know the other side of this truth: those very things that attract us to our spouses have the power to invigorate our relationships. They have the power to give meaning and vitality to our marriages. If we use them correctly, they have the power to re-attract us to our spouses, over and over again.

I became an incomplete paraplegic at the age of 22, because of a road accident. Running was the thing I loved to do most in life and it was taken away from me in a split second without warning or consultation.

Meeting the man who put me in a wheelchair was not going to be easy. I didn’t feel anger towards him or crave retribution, but I was apprehensive about getting in touch with him, hearing his voice, seeing him in person. My concern was that it might be a negative experience—and that would make things worse for me, not better. I also knew if I didn’t face up to this I would never be free of it. I wanted to know what happened in the cabin of that truck just before it hit me and what the driver’s reaction had been and how his own life had turned out.

He couldn’t put it off any longer. With shaking hands, Luke sat on the edge of his bed, his back to the mirror, and unfolded the spiral notebook paper. At the top, written in what was undoubtedly Natalie’s handwriting, it said: "The day I’m buried."

Underneath was a block of writing, the looping letters so familiar it was like she was whispering in his ear as he read.

Dear Luke,