I have given quite a bit of thought now to your very good question of "How far am I from the man she married" - and I would have to say that I am pretty much as far away from that man as Mars is from Venus - quite a distance.
The man she married 33 years ago both saw her and treated her daily like a precious gift from God in my life, I was a man who knew he had been blessed with this beautiful woman in my life and treated her with love, respect, admiration and friendship -THAT was the man she married. I believe she married me because her heart was connected to mine by the way I treated her and how secure she felt in my love, shown not by my words, but by my daily walk.
The man she separated from over four months ago was a man who treated her with total distain, disrespect, emotional bankruptcy and abandonment, distance, abuse thru silence, and constant lectures as to all the things that were wrong with her and how she needed to "fix" all of her shortcomings as seen from my selfish and ignorant perspective. The man she separated from four months ago was a man who exhibited much weakness in fear and shame in his own life, and took it out on his wife, and did that over many many many years of lonely days, distant nights and no hope for a future with abundance.
Does that answer your question ?
Mr. Firstlove
M-58 W-56 Married 33 years BOMB -Sept/10 Separated 8 months
BITS (of Fruit) Firstlove
"Go Confidently in the direction of YOUR dreams - Live the life you've imagined" - Thoreau