Update: Feeling a Little Lost
Feeling a bit stuck and sad.
Since 2018 I have had a companion who is older and lives nearby. He's become like family to me, helped me through a very difficult time after WXH left and essentially abandoned DD and me. He lives alone, is retired, a little eccentric, and an emotional avoidant, likely on the spectrum. We do love each other (he never says it but I know he does) but our relationship stopped being sexual a year and a half ago. He has very little sexual desire at his age and is on antidepressants (which can impact sexual dysfunction) and is not that affectionate. As an emotional avoidant, he is careful with his feelings and making any future plans with me. Even so, he brings me a lot of peace and I trust him.
About a year ago, someone from my long ago past reached (an old lover) out after reading an essay I published about infidelity. We began a friendship over email (he lives in another state) and finally met for a romantic weekend. I let my companion know that there was someone else in my life and saw other guy about once a month when we could manage it. It wasn't easy. I didn't want a "polyamorous" kind of love triangle but it evolved that way and both men seemed okay with it -- but it was difficult for all of us. Long story short, the new guy just ended things and I can't say I blame him.
It was getting clunky to manage two relationships, even though one was purely platonic. I had a hard time considering a future with him since he lived out of state and there were other red flags. He was a bit of a love bomber, shared similar qualities with WXH (impulsive, moody, a spender, a bit chaotic, and juggling a lot of ideas and projects that never seem to go anywhere). In my own mind, I knew there wasn't a future, but we had a great time together and a lot of chemistry.
He ended things saying he was clinically depressed (due to some trauma he experienced a few years ago) and that he was tired of being "hidden away" in my life. Everything he said was true.
It's just sad to have another ending, another goodbye. I am just feeling sorry for myself. Thanks for reading.
3 comments posted: Monday, October 16th, 2023
Does this ever happen to you?
I have been doing great in life -- a new relationship, figuring out life stuff and a big raise with my career. I live in a beautiful apartment.
Then yesterday I was making a meal for myself and I suddenly experienced a flashback of making lunch for my husband and daughter. I thought, I used to live in a house with my husband and child and I made meals for them. We loved each other and laughed together.
Now I am alone and they are gone. We are no longer a family. It's as if that one memory artifact brought my optimistic perspective crashing down. I breathed through it and processed that narrative of grief. Eventually, I land in a place where I realize I don't want to go back in time and have it all back. But, wow, it's tough sometimes, to have those thoughts and be alone.
2 comments posted: Monday, September 4th, 2023
Does This Ever Happen to You?
I have been doing great in life -- a new relationship, figuring out life stuff and a big raise with my career. I live in a beautiful apartment.
Then yesterday I was making a meal for myself and I suddenly experienced a flashback of making lunch for my husband and daughter. I thought, I used to live in a house with my husband and child and I made meals for them. We loved each other and laughed together.
Now I am alone and they are gone. We are no longer a family. It's as if that one memory artifact brought my optimistic perspective crashing down. I breathed through it and processed that narrative of grief. Eventually, I land in a place where I realize I don't want to go back in time and have it all back. But, wow, it's tough sometimes, to have those thoughts and be alone.
4 comments posted: Monday, September 4th, 2023
Is This Wrong?
Hey folks,
I haven't checked in in a while and now with some developments in my life need a gut check on some issues. It's been four years since my divorce and, like everyone else on this forum, I am still healing and figuring out life after marriage (I was married for 20). I have been in a relationship/companionship for four years with a guy who lives nearby. We met at a fundraiser and he's been pretty supportive of me and my daughter after XWH abandoned us. He helped me through my divorce and we kept each other sane during the pandemic. We travel well together, my friends like him and I like his friends. I feel like he's a member of my family, as does my daughter.
However, there are some issues I have tried to ignore or just learn to live with. The major one is our relationship is completely nonsexual now. He's older and, by his own admission, has no sexual desire. We tried to have a life of intimacy early on but it was problematic. He tried to break up with me once over it, saying, I wanted things from him he could not give. On the rare occasion we did try to have sex, the effort didn't make me feel closer to him, just unattractive and undesirable. We barely even kiss except for a peck on the lips, coming and going. He rarely holds my hand.
Also this: in our four years together he's never said "I love you" or even "I miss you." He's an emotional avoidant who is content to have me come over to his place two or three times a week (he never comes to mine), cook dinner or go to events together. We have never talked about future plans or moving in together. That, and the lack of physical and emotional connection has taken a toll. On our recent four year anniversary I took him to an expensive evening at the theater. I got zilch. Not even a card. That is not to say that he hasn't give generous gifts in the past, just that the one to recognize our anniversary is something he doesn't do anymore.
I finally asked him not long ago if he ever wanted to know if I hooked up with someone else sexually, and he first responded, "Well, it depends..." Then concluded he did not want to know.
Several months ago out of the blue a guy I briefly dated 30 years ago reached out by email. He saw something I wrote that was published online and was moved by it. We started writing back and forth every day, then moved to phone calls. He lives in a different state. We recently agreed to meet in a city where I had to travel for work. We met at the airport after we landed. We spent the weekend together in what I can only describe as the most intense romantic experience I have had in a long time. We're supposed to see each other in another week and, as excited as I am, I feel conflicted, as if I am cheating on my longtime companion. People close to me, who know our situation, disagree. They say I just need to have stronger boundaries and less codependency on what my companion might think or feel about what I am doing.
Any feedback would be great (please be kind -- feeling kind of vulnerable with this one).
13 comments posted: Monday, September 26th, 2022
Is This Wrong?
ablegirl has posted a reply to your topic "Is This Wrong?".
Here is the response:
Hey folks,
I haven't checked in in a while and now with some developments in my life need a gut check on some issues. It's been four years since my divorce and, like everyone else on this forum, I am still healing and figuring out life after marriage (I was married for 20). I have been in a relationship/companionship for four years with a guy who lives nearby. We met at a fundraiser and he's been pretty supportive of me and my daughter after XWH abandoned us. He helped me through my divorce and we kept each other sane during the pandemic. We travel well together, my friends like him and I like his friends. I feel like he's a member of my family, as does my daughter.
However, there are some issues I have tried to ignore or just learn to live with. The major one is our relationship is completely nonsexual now. He's older and, by his own admission, has no sexual desire. We tried to have a life of intimacy early on but it was problematic. He tried to break up with me once over it, saying, I wanted things from him he could not give. On the rare occasion we did try to have sex, the effort didn't make me feel closer to him, just unattractive and undesirable. We barely even kiss except for a peck on the lips, coming and going. He rarely holds my hand.
Also this: in our four years together he's never said "I love you" or even "I miss you." He's an emotional avoidant who is content to have me come over to his place two or three times a week (he never comes to mine), cook dinner or go to events together. We have never talked about future plans or moving in together. That, and the lack of physical and emotional connection has taken a toll. On our recent four year anniversary I took him to an expensive evening at the theater. I got zilch. Not even a card. That is not to say that he hasn't give generous gifts in the past, just that the one to recognize our anniversary is something he doesn't do anymore.
I finally asked him not long ago if he ever wanted to know if I hooked up with someone else sexually, and he first responded, "Well, it depends..." Then concluded he did not want to know.
Several months ago out of the blue a guy I briefly dated 30 years ago reached out by email. He saw something I wrote that was published online and was moved by it. We started writing back and forth every day, then moved to phone calls. He lives in a different state. We recently agreed to meet in a city where I had to travel for work. We met at the airport after we landed. We spent the weekend together in what I can only describe as the most intense romantic experience I have had in a long time. We're supposed to see each other in another week and, as excited as I am, I feel conflicted, as if I am cheating on my longtime companion. People close to me, who know our situation, disagree. They say I just need to have stronger boundaries and less codependency on what my companion might think or feel about what I am doing.
Any feedback would be great (please be kind -- feeling kind of vulnerable with this one).
12 comments posted: Sunday, September 25th, 2022
About Infidelity Grief & Trauma
I am working on an essay about my experience with infidelity with the goal of helping others through a profoundly destablizing experience. When I was going through the worst of my own experience I became very frustrated by the scarcity of resources to help me beyond this forum; meaning that most of what was written about infidelity seemed geared to reconciliation. In my own case --and certainly that of many others on this forum -- that wasn't even an option. My ex denied the affair and gaslighted me even as he was dating someone else and living under the same roof. I became unhinged and found my way back to sanity but recovery looks a lot different than I expected. A few revelations:
It never really goes away, we carry it with us, always and it just become less interesting to engage with over time.
Grief is not chronological. It's more like a jack rabbit. I can feel fine for a few days and then a trigger moment can send me into knee-buckling grief.
My best healing came from re-storying what happened, creating a new self.
Anyone else have any surprising truths to share?
25 comments posted: Monday, May 2nd, 2022
Would This Hurt Your Feelings?
Been with SO going on 4 years. He's an emotional avoidant, divorced and never had children. He really loved his elderly pet cat, who took a turn for the worse over the holiday weekend and expired. I went over to SO's house for the evening as I usually do 2 or 3 times a week. I figured he might want company. I made dinner and he lay on the couch watching television with a blanket over him. Our usual habit is for me to lie on the couch with him. This time, however, I asked if I could snuggle up with him and he answered, "I am comfortable here as it is." This is not the first time he's brushed me off like that but it was unexpected and hurt, coming off some other stresses. I went and read in the other room and tried not to cry. A close friend said I may be codpendent in expecting that he wanted to be comforted (anticipating needs that aren't there), but it still hurts. Am I overreacting?
5 comments posted: Tuesday, April 19th, 2022
Delusional co-coparenting rant
Experienced a rage trigger with XWH. UGH! DD is having a difficult time in freshman year of college and academically struggling. Also has a new boyfriend who is not on campus and comes with a lot of red flags, including a father who is incarcerated. The downslide began when DD started to try to engage a bit with XWH and affair partner for the first time. These two posers are still together, much to my surprise. They had dinner together and a few outings but AP is a pretty shallow, narcissistic person who views DD as competition. Bottom line: DD came home from school one weekend and was told she couldn't stay with them for the night because AP was "uncomfortable." This was in our old family home that DD grew up in, and where their affair started (she was an invited guest in my home when she started sleeping with my husband).
DD left very hurt and upset that evening. Since then she's been estranged from her dad and struggling, grades started sliding. When the college crisis came up, though, XWH swooped in to try to be super dad. He even called me to discuss the matter, and we both agreed she should stick it out. He went to visit her on campus and I took this as a sign he would be more involved as a parent (when he's been MIA). I can't believe I fell for it. Fast forward a week later. DD brought the boyfriend home. I called XWH to discuss the relationship as it seems to be getting alarmingly serious. He never responded or called back. I tried to share my concerns but he called DD directly instead who exaggerated what I thought was a very calm but assertive conversation about her needing to focus on college. This stupid triangle of divorce is so dysfunctional. I am proud that I didn't rage text XWH about refusing to communicate with me -- but I am still struggling with anger about it -- about having to parent alone, having to make difficult decisions and picking up the pieces of his damaging behavior.
I find my mind reaching for revenge tactics against him and I hate that I am spinning my wheels with hate and anger toward someone who is worthless.
8 comments posted: Tuesday, March 29th, 2022
Finally Came Face to Face with Other Woman
It finally happened: I saw AP at a Christmas Party with WXH. Even better, we chatted for about 20 minutes about mundanities. I had no racing thoughts, clammy hands or rage. My initial thoughts about the experience are that she's uninteresting and a lot more afraid of me than I am of her.
When she first spotted me, her expression reminded me of a trapped, panicked animal. But my compartmentalization skills were in full throttle and I felt nothing except fascination for her artificial look -- painted eyebrows, waxy skin (like one too many chemical peels had happened), dental veneers. WXH stood there like a dumbfounded troll. My favorite moment came when my SO, who is 6'5" and towers over everyone including the two of them, leaned down to politely introduce himself to AP and she said, "I think you know my name."
Funny how grief becomes less interesting. It never goes away, it just becomes something I am less invested in as the years go by and I enjoy life more as a single person. I have also come to realize how I dodged a bullet with my marriage. I was an unhappy wife, yes but not the "wicked witch" that WXH described in divorce papers, nor in their narrative about me as a vengeful ex-wife to justify their betrayal.
For the first time since the unraveling of my marriage in 2016 and divorce in 2019, I am at peace.
6 comments posted: Wednesday, December 15th, 2021
What happens if you don't pay alimony
Been divorced for almost 3 years. I haven't paid alimony for the past year for a host of reasons that include WXH came into a huge financial settlement after a car accident, failed to pay his half of childcare expenses and lives supported by his affair partner at her house. I probably owe about 10k or more. I pay alimony because I was the breadwinner in the family until he began an affair with a woman I invited to dinner and destroyed our marriage.
Since the divorce I have paid all of DD's expenses, including college. WXH hasn't said much about it until I got an ominous text today about how it was time to talk xmas plans and money. Some background here: we had an odd living arrangement on a family property. He built the house so we had no mortgage I gave the house to him and in lieu of him taking half my retirement savings I set aside money for DD's college and paid him alimony for 3 years. Every once in a while he's blown off steam about the financial arrangement but I ignored him. He had a clown of an attorney and I never took it seriously. He's pretty disorganized and chaotic person. He can't usually pay his bills but likes to blow money on fancy suits and hit the race track with his affair partners.
Today I got a text that indicated he wants to talk money again which is worrisome. It doesn't make sense to pay 5k to hire an attorney to get such a paltry sum -- also the shame about asking for alimony (his family is deeply embarrassed). I live in Maryland. What's the worst that could happen?
5 comments posted: Thursday, December 2nd, 2021
Anyone feeling triggered by the holidays?
Just wanted to hear how everyone copes with the holidays, hoping for some uplift. This is my second Thanksgiving/Christmas since my divorce and the first since I moved from the family farm where I lived with XWH for more than 20 years. I live in a beautiful place now that I love, but don't have the indoor space to entertain anymore. However, I am feeling sad that my matriarchal role in entertaining my nieces and nephews and friends seems passed. My china and silver are [packed away in boxes.
For Christmas Eve I am having dinner out with SO and DD. But I have to admit this hurts, and that XWH's family, with whom I tried to remain close, has not indicated any interest in having me join them for any gathering this year. I am close with them individually, for the most part, but it's a different deal now that XWH and AP are now a couple. I feel excluded and then end up doing dumb, reactive stuff, like posting photos of me, SO and DD having Thanksgiving dinner together as if to say, "See? We are doing great." But doing that makes it worse, my sense of exclusion and being thrown away.
What hurts the most is that this time 7 years ago I invited AP to sit at my Thanksgiving and Christmas table because I felt sorry for her. She had no family or friends. That's when her affair with XWH began and my family unraveled. I relive that every year.
10 comments posted: Monday, November 29th, 2021
Does Your Ex Still Try to Avoid You?
Just curious about this. Does your ex avoid you and, if so, do you think it's out of anger or shame?
Lately I have noticed that even though XWH and I get along quite well when face to face, he still goes out of his way to avoid me or communicate directly. Even more maddening is on more recent occasions he has told DD that he won't go to certain events we are both invited to if he knows I will be there. This came up because we live in a small town, attend a lot of intersecting social events and I remain close to my in-laws, including my nieces and nephews. Recently I was invited to BIL's birthday lunch and XWH told DD he wasn't coming because I was attending. Mind you, this does not occupy a lot of emotional space in my head overall but it does bother me that he tells DD he doesn't want to be around me. Why tell her? It's also a little puzzling because up until last March I lived in the marital home with DD and he hung out there all the time to visit her and do work around our property. I tolerated his presence because it was the best thing for DD to see her dad (he moved in with OW and didn't have a place of his own for DD to visit -- OW was banned from having contact with DD by court order).
My theory is that XWH justified his affair with OW by painting me as the enemy who deserved to be cheated on because I was demanding and mean. Granted, I was angry about his affair (it was with a woman who pretended to be a friend of mine) but it's been a few years now and I see that I am better off and doing quite well. I moved to a lovely place on a property nearby our old farm, won a big promotion in my job, and am in a relationship with someone DD regards as a father figure.
I think XWH avoids me because his old narrative about why he did what he did doesn't stand up too well when confronted with an ex wife who jokes with him and laughs. He's still with OW but I heard through friends she's deeply self-conscious about her role in the break up of our marriage and stays away from any place where she knows where I or DD will be. I guess it could be he doesn't like me as a person anymore (don't care) or is still angry that our divorce settlement didn't work out the way he wanted, but my gut tells me that he constructed an alternate reality in which he justified his affair (he hated cheaters until he became one) and the more he's around me the more fragile that fantasy is. Wondering what others have experienced from their exes.
Thank you.
9 comments posted: Monday, September 27th, 2021
The Looming Train Wreck that is Moving Kid to College
DD goes to college in two weeks. I am anxious how the dorm move-in is going to go because she invited XWH to help her move in addition to inviting my SO. She's been pretty cool to XWH the past few years but lately their relationship because he had an affair with and is still dating the family friend that broke up our marriage. That began nearly five years ago and through out that DD lived with me and XWH completely had his head up OW's skirt and barely parented. He would forget to pick DD up at school or was late, once even stole $$ from DD's checking account to take OW to the horse races (their couple thing is getting dressed up and hanging out at racetracks). Well, I guess DD has forgiven him because they are communicating more and. after stating flatly she didn't want his help, she's now accepting it.
First, I don't think it takes 3 people to move a kid into her college dorm. Second, I don't want to be around him, especially since he is not paying a cent of her tuition. He has not lived under the same roof as DD since he left to go live with OW. I am the one who helped her study, took her to doctor's appointments and got her through high school, paid for tutors and took her on college visits. The whole time he was preening around with OW, spending thousands of dollars on expensive suits (he's a carpenter) and fedora hats and betting on horses. I see the ridiculous photos on Facebook.
I am also paying the whole cost of the tuition according to the terms of our divorce settlement. Third, SO (who I really didn't want to come in the first place) is so flattered she invited him to help, he wouldn't miss it for the world, but my sense was she invited him impulsively and probably because she thought it would please me. The two have a good relationship and being that he's childless he has adopted DD as his own. If I asked him to stand aside he'd be really hurt.
Should I just let this train wreck happen? Any thoughts or advice would be deeply appreciated.
12 comments posted: Tuesday, August 10th, 2021
Nearly Just Ran Into OW
I just had a near run in with OW.
I had to drive my 88 year old former MIL back home from a party in her car because she was too drunk to drive. I still have a relationship with her and visit/help out because her son, XWH, is a terrible son who hardly visits her.
Anyway, DD followed us in her car, which was low on gas. MIL lives on a family compound where I also lived for 25 years -- the last four with just DD after he left us. I moved last March just a few miles away and DD goes back and forth between houses. XWH is splitting his time between the house, which he is having cleaned and repaired, and OW's home about an hour away.
When we arrived to the house OW's car was in front. DD was quite put out by that and had been hoping to stay the night there with her friends. She said WXH had not been answering her texts about whether it was "safe" to stay there. I texted XWH and prodded him to answer her texts and his patrionizing response-- which was a lie -- is that he has clear communication with her and to stay in my lane.
Some background here: Our MSA specifically states that OW have no contact with DD. There is good reason for the addition: OW pretended to mentor and befriend DD when she was only 13 -- as well as me -- while seducing her father. She was a family friend and part of our social circle. It was a sick situation -- she was a guest in my home many times, took DD skiingng and even showed up for school concerts to cheer her on. She took us out for "girls teas" together and then, I later learned, was texting him constantly. It has taken years of therapy for DD get over how she was used as a tool by OW. I guess I am still not over it, either. DD is now almost 18 and not very conversant yet on how the legal system works but she's often said to me she is grateful for the language in the MSA and wants a restraining order against OW once she turns 18 -- obviously, that's not going to happen as OW poses no physical threat.
Would it be worth talking to an attorney about sending a letter to OW and XHW asking that they adhere to the spirit of the court order in accordance with DD's wishes and enforce the boundary?
It's hard for me to sort through my own feelings. That OW is now spending time on the family farm where I lived for 25 years really bothers me. I have heard through the grapevine she feels a bit uncomfortable about it but not enough, evidently, to stay away. The family property also has a social club in which I have remained a member and still plan to attend events -- this is my community. More important, DD has activities on this farm that she will pursue on weekends home from college. That DD has to navigate this and be the one constantly asking if the coast is clear bothers me. XWH has a disordered personality and is not capable of ensuring there are firewalls.
Any advice on this or how I can navigate this new normal?
2 comments posted: Sunday, June 27th, 2021
my three truths
I am working on an essay about my experience with XWH's infidelity and our divorce. I have boiled down lessons learned the past few years into three points. Thought I would share and see if anyone else had thoughts to add:
1. DD thrived not inspite of her dad’s betrayal and abandonment, but because of it. Had he remained under our roof with his chaos, cheating and sociopathy, she would not have matured, graduated with honors and become an amazing human being. XWH left me free to parent her the way I wanted.
2 Close friends and family who bear witness to your suffering as a betrayed spouse often confuse neutrality with having the moral upper hand. Silence in the face of wrong doing is not moral. I was surprised how few close friends and family really stood up and spoke out at what was happening to me and DD. People I respected would say, I don’t want to take sides, or I am neutral or I don’t judge. Infidelity and abandonment are wrong and create suffering. To remain neutral is to refuse to bear witness and acknowledge wrongdoing – and that is not moral.
3. People seem to have a standard or model in mind for how a betrayed spouse is supposed to act. The prescribed expectation is that he or she conduct themselves with quiet dignity and stoicism and not tell people what is happening. Some tears might okay in the first year or two, but keep it to yourself and shake it off. After a few years, it’s unseemly to display grief or anger about the end of your marriage. Don't feel ashamed if you are not ready to move on even if others close to you have.
8 comments posted: Friday, June 11th, 2021
Anger Binge
Anyone fall back into an anger binge after a transition? I just moved to a fantastic new place with DD after 25 years on XWH's family farm. Where I live now is even more beautiful than the place I left and we're very happy here. XWH will move into the old house, which has fallen into disrepair.
DD graduates soon and will be off to college. I got my COVID shot and am feeling optimistic. So why am I so angry at XWH again?
I have a few guesses about how it started percolating -- going through old memories, photos and things in the house. Then on Easter I saw that my former MIL (with whom I remain close) had brunch with him and OW. Also things with SO are bleh again. I notice that when things go a bit south there I tend to direct my focus to the past.
I am trying to meditate and stay focused but I just feel distracted and angry and am drafting hateful emails to XWH that I stop myself from sending but it's a weird loop. Intellectually I know anger doesn't solve anything, yet it's like a drug for me sometimes. Help!
4 comments posted: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021
Need advice on moving
How did you handle the divsion of furniture, goods after divorce?
As I mentioned I am finally moving from the marital home into a beautiful apartment a few miles away. I am leaving the house to XWH because he built the house with his own hands and it is located on his family's farm where I have lived peacefully among his relatives the past 25 years. Per the settlement we agreed I would live there until DD is graduated.
When he moved out three years ago to live with AP (he's still with her, by the way) we only divided up the big things -- he took the bed, a cabinet, and the truck.
Now that I am getting ready to move he texted he wanted to go through what I was taking with me and what was being left behind.
First, our marital settlement agreement (which he evidently never read but signed anyway) said essentially that whatever he didn't take with him to the new residence was mine. I don't intend to take any of his family heirlooms or anything that he made (he's a carpenter), but I know he's eyeing a few things that I purchased during our marriage, as well as some wedding gifts we received.
Second, I am pretty sure he's going to have a meltdown when I tell him this. He is a child and is capable of acting out in some way, like blocking the movers from taking things he decided he wants or yelling at DD. He's at the house a lot anyway to visit with DD and may see me packing up stuff and then throw a fit.
Should I just start quietly taking things or is it better to inform him that I plan to take what I want to take and it's within my rights to do so?
It's going to be weird knowing that AP will live in my house where they met and carried out their affair under my nose. Yes, it still hurts but I also know they are marked by shame for what they did and will never be accepted by his family or our friends no matter where they live.
11 comments posted: Thursday, March 4th, 2021
Some good news
I am beyond excited. I found a place for me and DD!!
To circle back a bit, I have been struggling to find a place to live. For the past 24 years I have lived on my XWH's family 60 acre farm. I have loved it here, always. Loved the mud, the cold, the long gravel drive that stayed frozen most of the winter. I didn't care.
XWH and I operated a small stable, there were always parties and gatherings with friends. It was hard for me to think about leaving because I thought I would die here. The house belongs to XWH and his relatives. They have loved having me here and we got along in spite of the divorce, but farm was also dying -- falling into disrepair, fences falling down, fallen trees everywhere. It was also time to go because DD is off to college in the fall.
But I found a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment up the road over a beautiful barn. I even knew the original owners at one time. There were 32 people vying for the apartmetn but I secured it today with a deposit. Best of all the new owners are in the same line of work as me. I am filled with joy. So many places fell through or didn't feel right. This one did immediately.
I can't wait.
10 comments posted: Friday, February 12th, 2021
Ghosted by SO... Seriously?
Off and on I have posted about my SO. We've been going out for about 2 and a half years. We met at a fundraiser and he's helped me get through some tough times. He was married before, still good friends with his ex-wife -- no children. I thought I was safe from being hurt but what became evident was his avoidant attachment style. He was incredibly emotionally distant. While he showed compassion and kindness, he just wasn't emotionally available. He never said, I miss you or I love you.
Mind you, in the beginning, he was all in and pursuing me rather charmingly. But that changed once we started a physical relationship.
I felt ignored being in the same room with him for the most part. Sometimes we'd laugh and talk, but most of the time I would pause in midsentence so he could look at his phone or ignore him on vacation while he remained glued to cable news.
When the pandemic began, we stopped having any kind of physical intimacy. At first, I thought it was because he was worried about being infected by COVID. But no, he claimed his Cialis wasn't working as well and that he stopped having desire, too. I tried talking to him about alternatives to experience physical closeness. I learned to cope. We had an intellectual connection and a good friendship. But he even stopped kissing me. Sometimes we spent a whole evening without touching at all.
Over Christmas he gave me a gold bracelet that belonged to his great grandmother and took me and DD out to a lovely dinner (socially distanced). But two nights later we were talking about some difficulties he was having with some charity work he has been doing over the course of the past year that has been very draining. He talks about it constantly in excess detail and I got a bit exasperated because I could not understand what he was trying to convey. In any case, we had a disagreement that turned into a discussion about our lack of intimacy. He said something that stuck with me -- that when he was a kid (he was raised by a single mom), he used to hide from his mother in his bedroom because she was so needy.
The next day I left his house while he was still sleeping. I didn't leave a note as usual. I was still sore. I also figured it would pass, as we have had disagreements before that were uncomfortable but passed. Butt this hasn't. Other than cryptic text about talking to me later, he's not called. On New Year's I asked if we were getting together, he said "Next Year."
I am being ghosted by someone I have dated for almost 3 years. I am in disbelief. I unwittingly fell for another abandoner, an emotional eunuch. And I guess a part of me knew that, but I held on to him because the SO before him ended things taking off as well.
Could use some words of support here. Thank you.
8 comments posted: Monday, January 4th, 2021
Nervous about New Beginning
Hi all. I have finally found a housing option for after I leave the horse farm where I have spent the last 25 years. Haven't quite made the leap yet because I was waiting until summer and when COVID is over, but finding housing is difficult because I live in a rural area and this opportunity is a good one.
But this is a hard transition. I have loved our farm. I spent my married life and raised my child. The house and land belong to XWH and his family, and the house is falling apart anyway. I remain close to his family, who live on the property, including MIL and BIL, but it's time to move on and figure out a new path. A few issues I am struggling with:
XWH and I also ran a stable and boarded other peoples' horses in addition to our own. I cared for the horses, fed them, oversaw their vetting, etc. After he left and let the fences fall down I realized it was no longer safe to board horses. I called it quits and left the barn to the mice and spiders. I moved my horses to different stables and pay board, but there are be two horses that will left behind because they belong to XWH. I still care for them because in the colder months they need to be feed 2x a day and I am working from home anyway. I am worried for their welfare after I go. XWH is incompetent and cruel. He will ride them hard and leave them in a stall without food or water because he forgets. I once came home from a business trip and found they had been confined like that for 2 days in 90 degree heat. He will forget to water them, feed them or put out hay in the cold months. When we were married, I knew how to manage him, remind him -- and that's part of what may have ruined our marriage. I became a nanny to this manchild. Anyhow, he recently told DD that he plans to get more horses after I go. I assume this is for OW and they plan to move to the farm after I go and DD is off to college. I feel like OW should be warned that he can't be trusted or is unreliable but it can't be me because even though we were once friends I am now the vengeful ex-wife. However, I am not the only one who has expressed worries about this. Family members and friends have said the same. How can I encourage them to say something to OW who is the only person he will listen to?
Second issue is I am just worried about feeling lonely and depressed in a new place because my move coincides with DD going off to college. Anyone have any experience with this?
Advice and reassurance appreciated.
2 comments posted: Tuesday, November 24th, 2020
Thanksgiving Yuckiness
Thanksgiving is a triggering time for me even though I am more than a year out from divorce and 4 years out from D day. Still, XWH's affair with OW started when I invited her to our home on Thanksgiving and I believe they started sleeping together the following December. This year MIL (with whom I remain close) told me that XWH and OW are driving her up in an RV to BIL and family's home. It's hard not to feel violated about that. I have done well post-divorce and, I know it sounds strange, feel like I "won." I have been promoted to a leadership post at my work, took some great trips before COVID struck, and DD is happy and ready to graduate HS, I am looking for a place to live after I move off the family property (per the marital settlement I live for free on the family property until DD graduates).
Still, it's hard to let go of the family I married into and the property that I have called home for 25 years. Family is the last shred of married life I guess I cling to. I watched my daughter's counsins grow up and they still consider me their Aunt. It feels like once OW steps into their house and sits at their table, my history is erased the damage she did to me and my daughter -- the lying, the manipulation of befriending us while sleeping with my husband-- is excused.
Nevermind that traveling to another state for a family gathering is a terrible idea because of COVID and MIL is in her eighties. MIL has misgivings about going but says XWH has been insistent (which shows what an ass he is).
Even though being on the RV with XWH is the last place on earth I would want to be (I hated going most places with him during the latter years of our marriage because he threw so many tantrums), it still hurts that she is going there as a guest in BIL's home. She will sit there with her false eyelashes, lacquered talons and stilettos and pretend she is not a morally bankrupt narcissist who broke up a family.
There I vented.
4 comments posted: Thursday, November 12th, 2020
update and question
Hi all,
A few silver linings to report in an otherwise bleak year (given the pandemic). I was promoted to a leadership position in my organization. It feels good have some job security and validation.
I am still living on inlaws' property and we all get along but I am looking for a house. XWH and I are also on good terms and my anger toward him is fading (though not all the way gone). He's still with OW but I see small changes. He is around a lot more and trying to repair the damage with DD. Overall, he's more engaging with me, too -- talking and sharing, liking my posts on FB (yes, we stayed friends).
I replaced my old therapist, which has helped. I met her during our coparenting counseling and she has helped me see that XWH is bipolar, which I suspected for many years. I have more compassion for him now given that he will always have chaos and instability in his life.
Here's where I need some advice:
I have been with SO for almost 2 years. It's not been an easy relationship, as I have written in the past. I think he has avoidant attachment issues due to abandonment. We are great companions and DD loves him. He lives close by and I go over to his house once or twice a week, eat dinner and spend the night. He's older than me by a few years and has operational issues but is ashamed about exploring any other options. We've had no intimacy for the past 7 months. He used to take medication for ED but no longer even does that. When we manage a conversation about it, he says he has no desire anymore. Intellectually and emotionally we are very close, but I miss being kissed and touched. In this age of COVID I have not wanted to break up with him (he's too isolated and has no family). Also, I do not want to put his health or DD's health at risk by meeting anyone dating. It's hard, though. I can't imagine him not in my life but I also feel like this isn't working for me. He seems to know this and makes jokes about my "dumping" him one day. If it weren't a pandemic I would probably start taking steps to extricate myself but in this new normal breaking up with someone seems catastrophic.
I have an online dating profile that is hidden. Is it cheating if if I unhide it and just start looking to see who's out there? Is it wrong to stick a toe in the water if I don't meet up with anyone?
10 comments posted: Tuesday, August 11th, 2020
Social Distancing my SO
Just an update. Feeling sad about this but I think for my own emotional health I need to distance from my SO. I care for him deeply, but his emotional remoteness wreaks havoc on my heart. We have been dating for almost two years. He got me through my divorce, cared for me after a horrible fire, gets along well with DD. He's a great friend.
Here's the bad. He's emotionally unavailable. We hardly ever have sex. When we do, it's pretty mediocre. Not to be too graphic here but he has equipment problems like most men his age (he's in his early sixties) but he also fails to entertain other options for intimacy. I have tried to talk to him about it. He acknowledges there's problem but doesn't do anything beyond that. He rarely kisses me and sometimes I have to just ask him for a hug.
His attention is always elsewhere. There have been times when I come over for dinner and he keeps cleaning his kitchen or mopping his floor, as if I am not there. I guess I would describe him as self-directed. If he came over I would drop everything and light candles,ask how his day went. Instead he describes how proud he is that he's cleaning his bathroom and goes into details about the different household tasks he peformed that day.
He's older, retired, lives very much alone on a rural property. His solitary living situation has made him very self directed and guarded about expressing love -- when I once told him I loved him he said thank you.
Also, the kicker was during our birthdays, which are several days apart. I took him to a very nice restaurant and gave him a picture of us I had framed. He gave me two cards, one of which referenced flowers he got me that never materialized. He meant to get them, just never got around to it. I told him how hurt I was and while he acknowledged it he never did anything about it.
Then this pandemic: I have been working 12 hour days because I work in a health care related field. I am exhausted. I came over to his house the other night and brought some steaks to cook. While was making a salad his phone kept pinging with texts that he keep reading and laughing at. He would do this while I was talking to him. He explained that he was on a texting thread with his buddies. When I protested he said, "Get used to it" or words to that effect. Then I realized that I was being triggered by all the times my XWH was texting his girlfriend while I would be trying to make dinner for us in our family home years ago. That memory still can bring me to my knees.. how awful and violating that felt.
So last night SO called and I didn't pick up. Instead I texted back to say that I was exhausted emotionally and physically from my worrk and needed some space to take care of my mental health.
I miss him, miss the possibility of what I thought we could be in the furture when DD graduated. But in reading over my journal of the last two years, every time I left his place the morning after I felt heavy with grief -- grief about my marriage, the betrayal, and a very shortlived passionate relationship that happened with someone else after I separated and that too abruptly ended. Most of all I feel grief about having nothing to run toward now -- the pandemic makes things all the more worse because one can't really plan, or even go out and be with friends to get over it.
Thanks for letting me vent.
18 comments posted: Sunday, April 26th, 2020
