I find it easier to detach when I realize that I'm the guy now that my W always wanted.
Me too. I've become the man, father, and partner that my wife always wanted me to be. Now that I have, she's divorcing me. I don't get the second chance that I'd hoped for.
Life will go on, but I wanted mine to be with her, the mother of my children.
"Always go straight forward, and if you meet the devil, cut him in two and go between the pieces." - William Sturgis, clipper ship captain, 1830's.