Joined
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350 Posts
So how do people start again? What is the first small step? I flounder and can’t see any possibilities. I am so hurt and angry.
Summary
I am 64 years old, married 35 years, and was living overseas with my husband untiI a few weeks ago. I loved him and until quite recently, he told me the same every single day. Three weeks ago he bought me a new bike and we paid for a gym membership for me.
A few weeks ago he decided that he didn’t want to be married any more and asked me to leave. Just before I left nine days later, he admitted that he had better options and was in a relationship with an Asian woman, the same age as his child.
I have returned to a house which we had bought and lived in for only eight weeks. It is in a new state, on five acres in a rural area, and we had no community connections here. The house was to have been a retirement project and required extensive renovations, something which we both enjoyed doing. We had already starting demolishing part of the interior.
I have a cousin here who has been extremely supportive, but she has her own problems as she cares for her 38 year old daughter who has had a stroke.
We have three adult children – a son who is desperately trying to not take sides and live 800 kms away; a daughter, who lives in the nearest large city, whose grief is worryingly extreme as she adored him and now refuses any contact with him, and a younger daughter who is extremely unstable with moderately severe BPD. She followed us here and lives in the nearest town
.
My husband says that I can have everything. I have seen a lawyer about initiating a financial settlement, but have since left mail and emails from them unopened. I have no official income as we ‘pooled’ our retirement plan and it is in his name. He ‘allows’ me to draw from this.
We had always led a rather exciting life and I have received email support from many friends, but these are scattered all over the world.
I finally saw a Dr here who told me to be grateful for the happy years as some people never have any. I saw a counselor who gave me a chart of deep breathing exercises. Perhaps I expect too much.
I am up by 5am each day (can’t sleep), work outside for a couple of hours until it is too hot, then by 9am my day sits in front of me. I go to town for essentials but for some reason supermarkets make me cry. I DO NOT want to deliver Meals on Wheels.
It has been 17 days now and I feel that I am going backwards. I allowed myself a two week wallow but I can’t seem to break out of it.
And just as icing on the cake – I have gone from zero to 40 cigarettes per day, after not smoking for over 15 years. I have bought an exercise machine which I am using (smoking does NOT help this).
I always considered myself to be extremely strong and now find that this isn’t so. I do not want to be.
Summary
I am 64 years old, married 35 years, and was living overseas with my husband untiI a few weeks ago. I loved him and until quite recently, he told me the same every single day. Three weeks ago he bought me a new bike and we paid for a gym membership for me.
A few weeks ago he decided that he didn’t want to be married any more and asked me to leave. Just before I left nine days later, he admitted that he had better options and was in a relationship with an Asian woman, the same age as his child.
I have returned to a house which we had bought and lived in for only eight weeks. It is in a new state, on five acres in a rural area, and we had no community connections here. The house was to have been a retirement project and required extensive renovations, something which we both enjoyed doing. We had already starting demolishing part of the interior.
I have a cousin here who has been extremely supportive, but she has her own problems as she cares for her 38 year old daughter who has had a stroke.
We have three adult children – a son who is desperately trying to not take sides and live 800 kms away; a daughter, who lives in the nearest large city, whose grief is worryingly extreme as she adored him and now refuses any contact with him, and a younger daughter who is extremely unstable with moderately severe BPD. She followed us here and lives in the nearest town
.
My husband says that I can have everything. I have seen a lawyer about initiating a financial settlement, but have since left mail and emails from them unopened. I have no official income as we ‘pooled’ our retirement plan and it is in his name. He ‘allows’ me to draw from this.
We had always led a rather exciting life and I have received email support from many friends, but these are scattered all over the world.
I finally saw a Dr here who told me to be grateful for the happy years as some people never have any. I saw a counselor who gave me a chart of deep breathing exercises. Perhaps I expect too much.
I am up by 5am each day (can’t sleep), work outside for a couple of hours until it is too hot, then by 9am my day sits in front of me. I go to town for essentials but for some reason supermarkets make me cry. I DO NOT want to deliver Meals on Wheels.
It has been 17 days now and I feel that I am going backwards. I allowed myself a two week wallow but I can’t seem to break out of it.
And just as icing on the cake – I have gone from zero to 40 cigarettes per day, after not smoking for over 15 years. I have bought an exercise machine which I am using (smoking does NOT help this).
I always considered myself to be extremely strong and now find that this isn’t so. I do not want to be.