An Ohio mother-of-two has revealed how her marriage fell apart after her ex-husband insisted on moving their family to Florida for a new job.
Candace Powell and her then-husband Erik Ganger decided to live out their dream of living along the Florida shores and moved states with their two children.
After Ganger was offered a transfer to a job in the Sunshine State in 2017, the two decided to go for it – over fears the opportunity wouldn’t present itself again.
Despite concerns for her own professional life, how her kids would adjust to the lack of immediate family nearby and the overall cost, they made the move.
Writing for Business Insider, Powell described it as being a ‘long list of concerns’ – with her gut fears later coming to pass.
According to Powell, the two made a deal that if the move didn’t work out as agreed, they would move back to Ohio.
Straight out the gate, she described the move as not being seamless – with her husband being required to leave straight away for his new position.
Meanwhile Powell was left back in Ohio and had found herself juggling single mother duties including dinner, homework and putting her kids to bed on her own.
In her own words, she says Ganger at the time had been: ‘Off living the life we planned together’, while she had her hands full.
After three months, Powell and her children joined him in Florida but she described it hard on all three of them.
According to her, Ganger had already ‘created a life for himself’ and had become fully immersed in Florida culture.
She wrote: ‘He’d eaten at a ton of local restaurants and had already developed routines and favorite places. It felt like he’d been living his best single life without us.’
Powell admitted that it felt that the three months was too much for her to catch up on, and that as if she was trying on ‘someone else’s life only to find it didn’t fit’.
While Ganger was away working long hours, she said their two children also struggled to adjust and frequently cried about missing home, family and friends.
After regret started to creep in, Powell said that after multiple arguments with her husband they agreed to go home for their children.
Despite their return to Ohio, her husband walked out on the family after three months.
After 14 years together, Powell said Ganger filed for divorce while her and their children remained in their family home.
In hindsight, Powell admitted that if she had to do it over again she’d ‘spend less time dreaming of a mysterious new life in a new town and spend more time fixing her marriage’.
According to her social media platforms, Powell has since remarried. Her former husband has also found a new partner.