I feel exactly the same way, Tim. Validating by text is so much easier than thinking on my feet in a conversation. I'm trying to practice with others. But it is so hard to change how I interact with others. I definitely use "but" all the time and it destroys any validating I tried to do. I need a class on validation :-)! It would help with teenagers too!

What about "I'm sorry that you feel that way"? Then see how she responds. What have you said in the past to this? I know I said something like "of course not because we've been together for 25 years and we need to work on it". Not exactly validating.

M 44 H 46
M 20yrs T 25 yrs
S15 S12

ILYBINILWY 7/18/15
Move to MBR 9/8/15
Physical Separation 10/10/15
Suspect A 8/2015
Confirm A 12/27/15
D filed by H 2/2/16