Maybe it was those extra five pounds Id gained. Maybe it was because I was about to turn the same age my mother was when I lost her. Maybe it was because after almost twenty years of marriage my husband and I seemed to be running out of things to say to each other. But when the anonymous online study called "Marriage in the 21st Century" showed up in my inbox, I had no idea how profoundly it would change my life. It wasnt long before I was assigned both a pseudonym (Wife 22) and a caseworker (Researcher 101). And, just like that, I found myself answering questions. 7. Sometimes I tell him hes snoring when hes not snoring so hell sleep in the guest room and I can have the bed all to myself.61. Chet Baker on the tape player. He was cutting peppers for the salad. I looked at those hands and thought, I am going to have this mans children.67. To not want what you dont have. What you cant have. What you shouldnt have.32. That if we werent careful, it was possible to forget one another. Before the study, my life was an endless blur of school lunches and doctors appointments, family dinners, budgets, and trying to discern the fastest-moving line at the grocery store. I was Alice Buckle: spouse of William and mother to Zoe and Peter, drama teacher and Facebook chatter, downloader of memories and Googler of solutions. But these days, Im also Wife 22. And somehow, my anonymous correspondence with Researcher 101 has taken an unexpectedly personal turn. Soon, Ill have to make a decision-one that will affect my family, my marriage, my whole life. But at the moment, Im too busy answering questions. As it turns out, confession can be a very powerful aphrodisiac.