California Nurse Leaves 12-Hour Shift to Find Her Husband’s Ring on the Dinner Table. He Was Nowhere to Be Found
He left her alone without warning.
Karlie Tooley (@ktooley89) is a travel nurse from California, and at 22, she met the man she wanted to ride off into the sunset with. But one day, she came home to his wedding ring on the table with a note beneath it—her husband was missing.
Tooley told TikTok that she loved her husband so much that she decided to pull herself out of the third stage of a prestigious two-year graduate nursing residency. Nevertheless, Tooley got married at 26 and started working as a travel nurse. Meanwhile, her husband worked as an ER technician before Tooley became the breadwinner. After her husband graduated from his bachelor’s degree program, they bought a travel trailer and lived in it. Then, she started her thirteen-week travel assignment in Northern California. Tooley shared that she was working 12-hour night shifts, and she was already five to six weeks in when she and her husband discussed Thanksgiving plans over the phone.
“When I got back to where we’re staying, it was close to 8:30,” Tooley said. When she pulled up to her trailer, she noticed the truck wasn’t there, which didn’t immediately raise concern. She thought her husband drove to the store or the shower area. When she entered the trailer, she noticed her dog, Blue, was inside—but oddly enough, her other dog wasn’t around.
Her husband wasn’t missing, he just gave up
“Then the very next thing I saw was his wedding ring, sitting on the table with a note,” Tooley stated. When she picked up the note, she felt blindsided. She continued, “I think it started with, ‘I’m not in love with you anymore. I don’t want to be married to you.’ The next minutes to hours were a blur.” Marriage is not easy, as this man, who has been caring for his sick wife, would know. Nevertheless, Tooley was shocked that her husband had up and left her, just a day after discussing Thanksgiving.
“Obviously, I tried calling him—he wasn’t answering. I found out later that he started his drive back to Washington, right after I left for work,” Tooley alleged. She further stated that while they were talking about Thanksgiving, he was already on the road.
“My body was going through the motions, but I was not there,” she recalled. Tooley went to work, but said she spaced out. But she finished her contract, living in the trailer by herself, while her husband told her he just needed to “take some time” for himself as he got settled in Washington. By the end of her thirteen-week contract, he agreed to drive back down to take the trailer. Tooley went on vacation to Hawaii and visited her sister. Her husband has been hinting at spousal support, and that’s when she realized she needed to contact a divorce attorney.
Falling into old patterns
After her vacation, Tooley’s best friend connected her with a popular divorce attorney. “She got me in contact with one of the most well-known Pitbull divorce attorneys in Seattle,” Tooley commented. Essentially, the divorce attorney was an all-star, and they scheduled a consultation. When Tooley recalled how her husband left her in their trailer out of the blue despite being the sole breadwinner, the lawyer was surprised.
“So, let me get this straight: you’re a nurse, you’re educated, you’re financially supporting you and your spouse, you guys made this decision to do all this stuff together, and he just, like, dips out?” the attorney allegedly said, floored by the events. Tooley believes the attorney felt bad for her and agreed to take her case on for just $1,500. With the lawyer on board, Tooley eventually served the papers on her husband. But her husband hesitated, asking her if she was sure. The divorce went through, and Tooley found herself traveling back to California.
Although she was free from one cowardly ex, she ended up dating another man who sent her straight to therapy. She eventually married her current husband after that ex, but she had been through a lot before finding the one. But for some people, love comes easier, and all it took for them to get together was a clumsily made bookmark.
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