Email from Foreign Female Friend:

Hey, SP. This struggle of yours worries me; your head is all twisted around -- I can hear it in your voice.

Let me ask you a question I asked myself: If you were an outside observer, what would you say you "got" from your wife in the last, say, 5 years? Aside from the obvious [she means my kids]. When I asked myself that, the answer was pretty illuminating. It's hard, because you're where you are. There's a tendency to gild the lilly and answer in the way that best suits the way you feel. But you owe it to yourself to just have to try and be totally honest, come hell or high water.


Struggling to answer.

Financial support...Companionship...(Some) sex...(Some) affirmation...Comfort...

I'm sure there's more. But 20 hours into the thing, the rest comes out on the debit side of the ledger. Really, since the war, it's been a different M altogether. No, scratch that -- it's been a different R.