Another dollar in my one-man show

[Big Bruce]

Hello all,
I know, I had exactly the same reaction when W dropped the bomb: "this can't be real". Does that make me a troll?
And when W claimed wanting 100% of our S. Outlandish, I know... oh, don't get me started.

You have to understand that I come from what one can call a "conservative" christian family. Being angry at spouses is not even mentionned, D is unthinkable, "people of the world" do it.
After all I still am a christian, and also was supposed to be W. It's bigger a shock than many of you will ever understand.
It seems in America, that D is very common. Since I arrived, and shared my story with people in church, etc... nearly 1 out of 2 has gone through something similar. I'm shocked, this can't be real. People here marry or divorce as if it was nothing.

And people here in this forum seem to think it's okay for W to D if she is not satisfied about the way I treated her, and she is justified!
I don't know what to say, in my view of marriage, and I think I made it clear, you stick to one another NO MATTER WHAT .
All the rest is bla bla to excuse the sin of Divorce.

Having said that, I learned here many things, including how to be in W's shoes to feel what she felt, and have empathy. And of course, to change my ways, to not repeat the grief I caused.

I also learned to back off, and stop pursuing, and let W sort out what she thinks and feels and what not.

I also now have more interest in S, making it my number 1 priority, Not getting W back (for the moment), but my relationship to my son above all else.

And, most important, I see that not everybody thinks like me or my family, or my friends, and therefore, I have to open my mind, and accept the ideas and advice, even when I don't necessarily agree or understand.
I realized also that my life had been pretty seamless until now, and that I absolutely don't know what to do when things get rough.

-->For this, I am thankful to ALL OF YOU.
I will never find the right words in English to express my gratitude.

As for the Africa comment, because I mentionned in a previous post my desire to escape to S. Africa or Australia, first thing that came to mind was how nice a vacation I had in S. Africa. I visited in 1995 after the rugby world cup, and I only seen the good side of it, apparently.

Pour ce qui est de mon prénom, sachez que bien qu'il soit écossais, sa vraie origine est de Normandie, donc de France. Une autre explication moins répandue prétend que Bruce proviendrait de "brousse" qui comme chacun sait, signifie "bush".
Quoi qu'il en soit, je ne l'ai pas choisi, et si on devait décréter la nationalité des gens par leur prénom...

Sur ce,
Bien le bonsoir,
Bruce.