(RealSimple.com) -- A lengthy separation -- and a surprise trip to Paris -- caused this husband and wife to realize that their marriage could be saved. 

Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger Washington, D.C. Married 26 years 

Mary was still in her nightgown and robe, sipping a cappuccino in the kitchen of the Washington, D.C., brownstone she shared with her husband, Del, when he walked in and announced he wanted to live alone. They had been married for 21 years. 

"I didn't know what had hit me," Mary, 64, recalls of that fall morning in 2005. "I wondered, does he have a girlfriend? A boyfriend? I had no idea what was wrong." 

Although the couple's relationship had been strained for a few months, Mary simply assumed they were going through a rough patch. She attributed Del's loss of interest in sex and his suddenly quick temper to stress from his high-pressure job as a financial analyst. 

"Del was so on edge that he would yell at me about every little thing -- like a knife accidentally placed in the dishwasher with the point up," says Mary, a writer and a teacher. Still, she figured that things would soon return to normal. 

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For Del, the decision had been a long time coming. Increasingly restless within his marriage, he wondered whether it was holding him back from leading a more exciting life. "I knew the problem wasn't Mary -- it was me," he says. "And I felt I needed to work through my mixed emotions alone."  QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. What lead to Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger not divorcing?
2. How did Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger decide not to break up?
3. 
Q2:
1. Who is the couple in the article?
2. What are the names of the couple discussed in the article?
3. 
Q3:
1. How long had Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger been married?
2. How much time had Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger been wed?
3. 
Q4:
1. What state were Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger in?
2. What was the state of residence of Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger?
3. 
Q5:
1. What was Mary Tabor's reaction when her husband told her he wanted to live alone?
2. How did it make Mary Tabor feel when Del Persigner informed her that he wished to live on his own?
3. 
Q6:
1. Had Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger been having relationship problems for quite some time?
2. Had the relationship between Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger been strained for awhile?
3. 
Q7:
1. What assumption did Mary Tabor make?
2. What did Mary Tabor figure was happening?
3. 
Q8:
1. What did Mary Tabor do for a living?
2. How was Mary Tabor employed?
3. 
Q9:
1. What would Del Persigner do around Mary Tabor?
2. What was Del Persinger's behavior like around his wife?
3. 
Q10:
1. In what year did Del Persigner inform his wife that he wanted to live alone?
2. What was the year when Mary Tabor's husband told her he wished to live on his own?
3. 
Q11:
1. Did Del Persigner harbor resentment towards his wife?
2. Did Del Persigner cast the blame onto his wife?
3. 
