Anonymous wrote:OP is obviously foreign and has no other choices.
Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I can't believe he's still stuck on this woman from college, who I learned is the first woman he fell in love with. But he claims he wants us to stay married.
The kids are 14 and 10.
Anonymous wrote:Forget love. He doesn't even respect her enough to keep his true feelings from her.
OP, he wants you to kick him out. Within a few months he will have found a new girlfriend, and tell you that he never loved the OW this way.
He's not worth it.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The 8 years of "off and on" were because he would feel guilty, then stop because he wanted to keep his marriage. By the way, this has been gone on for a majority of our marriage.
I know you want to stay together for the kids, but it seems to me like he can't quit. If you know this has been going on for the majority of your marriage do you really believe that he won't cheat in the future? Do you still love your DH? I can understand staying together for the kids, but I think at this point, I would be out of love with my DH and just be roommates with him.
I do still love him. I don't trust him though. I'm still trying to be the best wife I can be so he will just let this woman go for once and for all. I didn't sign up for this crap when I married him.
You have a deep misunderstanding about your situation. You think that something you do, will affect how he feels about this woman and whether he will "let her go." ("trying to be the best wife I can be so he will just let this woman go."
He has clearly made a decision to use this woman to fill a need in himself (nothing to do with you). It serves some purpose for him to have this fantasy love/relationship (at best) or secret AP (at worst). After so much time, and considering his response to you recently, it is clear that he doesn't want to change this.
The only thing you can control is you. The real question is do you want to continue being married to a guy who (at best) is constantly pining after an old love? Do you want to be in a relationship where you have zero trust for your partner?
You decide whether you continue or not. You decide whether or not you want to continue loving him. By the way, love is a choice, not some uncontrollable force. Just like your DH has decided to continue loving his ideal of this other woman, you also decide to either keep loving the person he is, the person you want him to be or you decide that you stop loving him.
My DH cheated on me extensively. At his request, I tried to reconcile with him, but he could not stop his behavior. I loved him deeply. But, I decided that he was not worth that love. I told him to leave the house. I felt relieved the first day without him, when I could stop doing the "pick me" dance. But, honestly, it took about 2 years for me to stop loving him. It would have been faster had I cut off all contact (which would have been entirely justifiable). For the sake of my kids, I still have contact with him, but it's pretty minimal. The less it is, the happier I am. Now, I can't even fathom why I wasted so much time on a person who so clearly was unable to devote proper time and attention to our relationship.
I guess I need to mention that this isn't the first time he's slept with another woman. I forgave him that time because it was a one night stand with no feelings involved. This particular situation is sickening. I can't believe he loves another woman. That hurts me more than him sleeping with her.
I'm trying to say this in the nicest way possible... OP, you are deluded and you don't have a backbone.
Anonymous wrote:I just love how the automatic response is to divorce the DH. But please, get real. OP has a good thing going in that DH pays the bills and she doesn't have to contribute anything. She has two teens with her DH and what is going to happen if they divorce? OP isnt being abused or ill-treated. She just doesn't like that her husband holds a torch for this woman. No woman is going to want to take on a guy with two teens and same goes for a man should OP really seek a divorce. They should just stay together. -Signed, a practical woman
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The 8 years of "off and on" were because he would feel guilty, then stop because he wanted to keep his marriage. By the way, this has been gone on for a majority of our marriage.
I know you want to stay together for the kids, but it seems to me like he can't quit. If you know this has been going on for the majority of your marriage do you really believe that he won't cheat in the future? Do you still love your DH? I can understand staying together for the kids, but I think at this point, I would be out of love with my DH and just be roommates with him.
I do still love him. I don't trust him though. I'm still trying to be the best wife I can be so he will just let this woman go for once and for all. I didn't sign up for this crap when I married him.
You have a deep misunderstanding about your situation. You think that something you do, will affect how he feels about this woman and whether he will "let her go." ("trying to be the best wife I can be so he will just let this woman go."
He has clearly made a decision to use this woman to fill a need in himself (nothing to do with you). It serves some purpose for him to have this fantasy love/relationship (at best) or secret AP (at worst). After so much time, and considering his response to you recently, it is clear that he doesn't want to change this.
The only thing you can control is you. The real question is do you want to continue being married to a guy who (at best) is constantly pining after an old love? Do you want to be in a relationship where you have zero trust for your partner?
You decide whether you continue or not. You decide whether or not you want to continue loving him. By the way, love is a choice, not some uncontrollable force. Just like your DH has decided to continue loving his ideal of this other woman, you also decide to either keep loving the person he is, the person you want him to be or you decide that you stop loving him.
My DH cheated on me extensively. At his request, I tried to reconcile with him, but he could not stop his behavior. I loved him deeply. But, I decided that he was not worth that love. I told him to leave the house. I felt relieved the first day without him, when I could stop doing the "pick me" dance. But, honestly, it took about 2 years for me to stop loving him. It would have been faster had I cut off all contact (which would have been entirely justifiable). For the sake of my kids, I still have contact with him, but it's pretty minimal. The less it is, the happier I am. Now, I can't even fathom why I wasted so much time on a person who so clearly was unable to devote proper time and attention to our relationship.
I guess I need to mention that this isn't the first time he's slept with another woman. I forgave him that time because it was a one night stand with no feelings involved. This particular situation is sickening. I can't believe he loves another woman. That hurts me more than him sleeping with her.
Anonymous wrote:OP, if remaining married is the most important thing to you, then you can do that. But you should just not delude yourself into thinking that your DH is being monogamous either emotionally or physically. Plenty of people have marriages where they know the other person cheats and they basically accept that. I would ask yourself if you really can accept that or not. This in-between thing of trying to make yourself believe the BS he tells you about it being mostly just a friendship, and hoping that he will stop contacting her or caring about her when he will not, is what will drive you crazy.
Anonymous wrote:I just love how the automatic response is to divorce the DH. But please, get real. OP has a good thing going in that DH pays the bills and she doesn't have to contribute anything. She has two teens with her DH and what is going to happen if they divorce? OP isnt being abused or ill-treated. She just doesn't like that her husband holds a torch for this woman. No woman is going to want to take on a guy with two teens and same goes for a man should OP really seek a divorce. They should just stay together. -Signed, a practical woman
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Based on my last post, I need to add that yes, I did get myself tested for STD's. DH is lucky the tests were clean.
Anonymous wrote:ummm. He's still seeing her. Obviously.