Salem is a town accustomed to dramatic exits. Planes take off. Doors slam. Loved ones promise they’ll be back before anyone has time to breathe.

But every so often, a goodbye lands differently — not as a cliffhanger, but as a turning point.Tuesday’s episode of Days of Our Lives delivers one of those moments

as Chad DiMera prepares to step away from the life he fought so fiercely to protect. Around him, other families mark  milestones of love and endurance,

creating a poignant counterpoint: while some couples celebrate forever, one father gathers his children and leaves everything familiar behind.

It’s a day of departures, anniversaries, and fragile happiness.

And in Salem, fragile happiness always comes with a shadow.

Chad’s Hard-Won Victory Leads to a Painful Farewell

For Chad, this trip is more than a vacation. It is proof of survival.

After a brutal custody fight, sleepless nights, and the constant fear that his family could be ripped apart yet again, he has finally secured the right to move forward with Thomas and Charlotte by his side. Winning them back wasn’t just legal — it was spiritual. It reaffirmed who he is when everything else in his life has been stripped away.

A father.

So when he decides they should visit Will and Sonny in Arizona, the gesture carries weight. Chad wants his children surrounded by people who love them, people who remind them that family can exist beyond grief and loss. He wants laughter. Sunlight. A pause from the ghosts that linger in Salem’s corners.

But departures in this town rarely pass without consequence.

Spoilers tease that when Chad and Thomas eventually return, they will seem… different. Transformed in ways viewers may not anticipate. Change can heal, but it can also reshape identities. The question hanging over the runway is simple and terrifying:

Will this trip help them rebuild, or will it quietly begin a new chapter of heartbreak?

Jennifer and Jack Close Another Door

Elsewhere, another farewell unfolds — softer, but no less meaningful.

Jennifer and Jack stand together as they send Jeremy off on his own journey. For two people who have spent their lives watching loved ones vanish into danger, addiction, death, and resurrection, every goodbye carries history.

They try to be brave. Encouraging. Optimistic.

Yet behind their smiles lies the knowledge that Salem has taught them to expect detours. Jeremy may be leaving with hope, but experience whispers that the road ahead is rarely smooth.

Still, Jennifer and Jack do what parents — and survivors — always do here. They let him go, believing that love, once given, is a compass that can guide anyone home.

Steve and Kayla: A Love That Outlived the Impossible

While planes depart and futures unfold, Steve and Kayla choose to pause and celebrate something extraordinary: longevity.

Their anniversary is not just a date. It is a triumph.

This is a couple that has survived kidnappings, presumed deaths, betrayals, separations, and the relentless pull of fate. Time and again they have found their way back to each other, as if the universe itself eventually concedes defeat.

On Tuesday, they step away from chaos long enough to honor that miracle. There is warmth, memory, and the quiet recognition that real love is built not from perfection, but persistence.

For viewers who have traveled every mile with them, the celebration feels earned.

Stephanie and Alex Begin Their Own Forever

Inspired perhaps by the example set before them, Stephanie and Alex are embracing married life with enthusiasm — and a touch of delightful impulsiveness.

Their honeymoon energy is playful, passionate, and blissfully insulated from the outside world. Announcements to extended family can wait. Responsibilities can wait. Right now, they are choosing each other.

It’s a choice that feels especially precious given everything Stephanie has recently endured. After facing fear, danger, and the threat of a stalker who still has not been caught, joy becomes an act of defiance.

But even in celebration, reality lurks. Salem never forgets unfinished business, and somewhere out there, someone may still be watching.

The Johnson Family’s Day of Light — With a Hint of Darkness

As Steve and Kayla reminisce about their wedding and Stephanie builds new memories of her own, the Johnson family finds itself wrapped in rare harmony. Generations linked by commitment. Proof that love stories can endure.

Yet viewers know better than to relax completely.

Because happiness in Salem is most vulnerable at the moment it shines brightest.

By the end of Tuesday’s episode, suitcases will be packed, vows remembered, and futures quietly rewritten. Chad will walk away believing he has secured a better tomorrow for his children. Jennifer and Jack will cling to faith. Steve and Kayla will toast survival. Stephanie and Alex will hold each other close.

And somewhere, just beyond the frame, uncertainty will wait its turn.

In Salem, goodbye is never just goodbye.

It’s the start of whatever comes next.