Husband's Death Reveals Heartbreaking Infidelity
When she found out, widow Julie Metz confronted her husband's five mistresses.
July 2, 2009— -- When Julie Metz's 44-year-old husband died suddenly in the couple's kitchen of a pulmonary embolism, she thought her near-perfect world was crumbling.
It was only while settling her husband's affairs that she learned her near-perfect world never existed at all. She discovered a string of e-mails, chronicling vast infidelity that spanned several years and included five women, one a good friend.
In order to deal with her husband's betrayal, Metz took an unusual course -- she tracked down every one of his mistresses and confronted them.
She documented her extraordinary journey from betrayal to forgiveness in her New York Times best selling book "Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal."
Click here to read an excerpt of the book.
"He was gone, and I had a lot of questions," Metz said on "Good Morning America" today. "I wanted to know who he'd been, and I wanted to know who these women were... Mostly I wanted to know how I could have been so blind to what had been going on in my marriage."
When confronted, Metz said the other women did not shy away from the situation.
"The women I called were actually very receptive. Many were expecting me to call them," she said. "We had some interesting exchanges."
One of the women Metz confronted even became a good friend over time.
She was not wholly unfamiliar with their position. Metz admitted to having been the "other woman" when she had an affair with a married man before she was married.
"We were very young. What I learned is that there are lines, and you can't cross those lines," she said. "For me, that was a learning experience."
'Can You Find Compassion?'
As a whole the experience, Metz said the experience helped her move on to a better life with a "different kind of man."
"We have a very family-oriented life," she said.
As far as forgiving her deceased husband, Metz said she believes she has.
"For me, forgiveness is, do you wake up angry or bitter, or can you find compassion?" she said.
Metz did have advice for other wives out there to help them avoid the pain she went through.
"Take note... What you really want is to notice the details of your life and notice them in an everyday way," she said. "If you're really paying attention, you'll start to see when things aren't right."