07/09/2025
I’m a family man, living abroad. It’s been four years since I relocated without my wife and kids, and truth be told, I don’t know if I’m overreacting, overthinking, or over-expecting. But this is what my heart has been carrying.
Usually, the complaint is that partners abroad don’t make time to communicate, that they are always busy. But in my case, it’s the opposite. I make time. I call. I provide. I pay school fees. I pay rent both in the US and in Ghana. Yet despite all this, I often feel like I don’t matter to my wife.
She is very active online, but hardly engages me there. About three months ago, she even told me she was going to hide her WhatsApp last seen from me and she did. It made me feel invisible, unimportant. She later apologized, saying she didn’t know why she did it, but by then, the damage had already been done. To this day, whenever I remember, I ask myself: “Am I really that unimportant to her?”
Here’s how things usually go: we’ll talk in the morning (around 9am my time here in the US), and then she can go the whole day without checking in again. When I bring it up, she says, “but we spoke in the morning.” and that’s after 8 long hours. Sometimes, she only calls because she’s seen that I was online.
Meanwhile, I am always calling and always checking up on her and the kids. I keep hoping she’ll learn and adjust, but it feels like she doesn’t care.
I am hurting every single day.
I express love through provision, consistency, and gifts. I installed Wi-Fi at home so data won’t be an excuse. I ship items every six months for her and the kids. I even factor drinking water into their weekly stipend. Yet, all of this doesn’t seem to mean much to her.
And so, sometimes I wonder: did my wife truly choose me out of love or simply because I was available?
Now, I’ve decided to choose myself and my three kids going forward.
Imagine being alone abroad, carrying all this emotional baggage. My emotions are everywhere, some days I can barely hold them. But one thing is clear: I can’t keep pouring endlessly into someone who doesn’t see or value my love.
Please keep my ID hidden, I’ll just be following from your wall.