KJ, to answer your question, awakening for the MLCer is much like it is for anyone else coming out of a depression. If you've had someone close to you die (or break up with you), you know how for a long time that new reality colours everything you think about or do. But then one day you find yourself smiling or humming a song, and you're surprised you've forgotten about your lost loved one for the moment ... and then the periods between thinking about them become longer, and one day you realize you can think about them without feeling stabbed to the heart.
In the same way, the MLCer has gradually increasing pockets of time where they don't feel miserable and trapped, where they can actually connect with others they shunned (children, family, later wife), and genuinely *see* them for who they are again. Because they've lost track of time (and have a fuzzy memory of being depressed), however, it's as though the intervening years haven't passed--my H was shocked by how old his kids were (even though he'd seen them regularly), and talked a LOT about the days we were first going out.
It takes quite a while for them to get to the point where they get used to being un-depressed, and able to look at and accept what they've done, forgive themselves, and put the entire MLC behind them.
I hope you and your girls have a wonderful weekend!
