Andrea Gunning

The encouragement went a long way.

They thought he was great and stable and good for me.

He really cared about me.

I finally met someone who I was in a healthy relationship with.

It didn't take long for Mike to become her confidant.

He showed a genuine interest in getting to know the real her, even the fragile parts.

Early on, Saskia opened up about her dad's mental illness and how it impacted her childhood.

She talked about her own struggles with anxiety and depression and how after her first marriage, she felt broken.

He found me at a very vulnerable place and I really needed somebody to help me.

Someone to show me real love and affection and time and all the things that I didn't get from my childhood or from my first marriage.

Mike gave me all those things.

Mike was there for her through it all.

If you can remember, Mike was her rock in the divorce.

And he supported her as she carried her sister's baby, giving her nightly massages and talking through any challenges in the process.

With Mike by her side, this pregnancy was one of the happiest, healthiest times in her life.

And that all changed after I had the baby.

She'd been with Mike for four years at that point, four great years.

But just after Saskia gave birth to her sister's son, it was like the other shoe dropped.

It began one morning when she had trouble getting out of bed.

It was like I was under quicksand or something.