ExW always said she felt as though she was holding me back, I can say I’m 99.99% sure she was.
Yeah - I didn't want my ex to leave, fought really hard for my marriage, and resented the heck out of it when he tried to phrase it as him somehow "helping" me by freeing me up to find someone else (after 26 years of marriage!) before I got too old.
But now, after 9 years of dating post-divorce, even though I have had a somewhat erratic dating history and am now dating a guy who may well be dying - I really think he did do me a favor. And I would gladly choose the last 9 years of erratic but life-affirming dating over 9 years with his grumpy A$$.
