Chuck met Janet in 1993. That's right. Bill Clinton was president. They began dating exclusively two years later.

Chuck says: "I was totally in love with her and I gave up my personal life and my single life to be with her. I'm a very responsible person and although she was totally my opposite, I thought we could get along. She was the love of my life. I even purchased burial plots for us. She adopted her brother's baby and I accepted him as my own son even though I wasn't ready to be a father. I gave her an engagement ring and other diamond jewelry. We fought like all couples, but we loved each other through hard times."

But not everything was great. Janet liked going to the clubs with her friends and sisters. She wouldn't get home till the early morning. Chuck says: "She said after her moonlighting gig as a bartender, she needed to unwind. Love is blind and I didn't even see the brick coming at me."

After nine years together — George W. Bush was then president — Chuck asked Janet to marry him. He proposed in the same restaurant where they first met. She turned him down. Six years later — George W. Bush was still in the White House — she told Chuck she'd like to "'take a rest from family life, drive away and not turn back.' I always thought she was kidding."

Meanwhile, Chuck kept pressing Janet to marry him. "I was told, 'I'm not ready.'"

During their 18th year together, Janet started hanging out with some old friends. Chuck says: "They were drug dealers, drug users or gang bangers. She wanted me to go with her. I kept saying no. She started disappearing for three or four days a week. I would ask where she was going, but she wouldn't tell me. Meanwhile, she started changing her ways, her attire, her hair. She started getting tattoos, drinking heavily and doing drugs. She took out her savings and spent it and her paycheck on these friends. She almost lost her job because she wasn't showing up. She sold all the jewelry I had given her."

Finally, even Chuck had enough. And when he didn't want her anymore, she got her life back on track. He says: "She returned to earth. She still lives with me because I don't have the heart to kick her out. Everyone has advised me to get rid of her, but she's basically a very nice person. I loved her once, but I'm not in love with her anymore. When I wanted a relationship, she didn't. I can see that she wants one now, but it's too late. I can't trust her anymore, although I have forgiven her. The bank is about to take my house and we'll part ways. I'll never understand why she turned on me after I gave her the world including my life and my love.

"Right now I'm single and getting my life together, hoping to find the right woman. I'm not sad or depressed, but I have learned a lot. I look back on all this and I'm proud of being a father for 23 years. My son loves me, but I've told him he has to love his mom. My love holds no grudges or hate."

Did the love of your life turn out to be something much, much less? Send your tale, along with your questions and rants to [email protected]. And check out my ebooks, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front" and "I'll Call You. Not.

Photo credit: at Pixabay