Update:
MC today was interesting, but cannot tell if it was good or bad. Perhaps is it just my level of confusion.

I did much of the talking, at her request. Apologized again for the 5 yr old PA, and told her whatever she wanted to know. Apologized for the emotional neglect, and for being too wrapped up in my career, and not paying attention to nuturing our marriage. We talked about the trust issue, and if it would ever be able to regain that trust.

She is set on the D. She is giving up her apt and moving back into our house when I leave for three weeks, and will be there for much of the summer (I will be gone quite a bit). However, she gets upset when I mention anything about the house, maintaining it is no longer her house. She did say she was flexible, and if I wanted to postpone filing for the D until September, that would be OK. She is figuring out that she is about to undergo a drastic change in lifestyle.

MC talked about how we had both undergone change, and wanted to know if W was interested in changing with me or without me. W said working on the relationship was too emotionally draining, and she need to focus on one thing at a time (D). The D is important to her, as she needs to get her life in order, start moving forward, and get off the meds. I told her it would be very sad if divorcing me was not what it took to get off the meds.

We talked about the fact that we had both made mistakes. She never told me what she needed, never let me know she was feeling neglected. I let her know I recognized that I had not made our marriage a priority, which I see as a huge mistake.

Interesting point was brought out by MC. W maintains that the dynamic in our relationship is such that she would immediately slip back into a subservient role to my strong personality, and that she thought that was impossible to change. The only way to demonstrate this is by showing her, which I cannot do under the current circumstances.

I told her I agreed that our marriage was dead. I told her I was focussing on moving forward, and that the changes I had made were for me, not for her. Told her I hoped we would be able to rebuild our relationship.

I walked out convinced she is moving forward with the D, but that it is very very painful for her. I think we made progress, but I am not sure I have much hope.

Sorry for the long post. Thoughts would be most appreciated.


H 51, W 46
no kids
T 22 years
M 17 years
ILBNILWY 2/10
1st D talk 6/10
partial recovery
W files D 5/11
long distance separation 8/11
moving forward on D 10/11
legal separation complete 1/2012