Let me quickly add, my mom took my brother and me and ran away from our home for a while. We were very young, maybe 6 and 8? We were quite confused and just kept asking when we could go home to daddy. We wanted to go HOME. We did NOT blame my dad for what happened, we blamed my mom.
Fast forward to me being a young teen and mom becomes a WAW. Mom claims (after the fact) that she had to leave due to physical and emotional abuse. Who did my brother and I blame? The one that left. We chose to stay with dad. My R with my mom has never recovered, to this day we talk maybe 4 times a year. My dad over the years has even admitted to the abuse, but all the hurt and pain I felt was towards the spouse that I perceived as abandoning us without putting forth an ounce of effort towards the M and family.
FWIW, my mom did try to return to reconcile, but my dad was done with her at that point.
