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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Marriage ended after 27 years. This is "My Death".

874 replies

mrsmciver · 12/05/2013 12:43

My husband left 4 weeks ago after I found some dubious e-mails to another woman he works with. I have posted about this on another thread, but still need the support from all you lovely ladies out there.
I asked him to go to his mum's after I went mad screaming and shouting and both of us crying. He went to his mum's, then round to my parents explaining himself and accepting all the blame.
I still let him in the house later that night and we both sat talking and crying about how we would get over this, then he collected some things and went back to his mothers.
I phoned him the next morning demanding the ow mob number but he would not give it to me as he said i would jeapardise his job if she went to his boss. We were both still crying and he asked what to get for his breakfast as his mum only has fried food and he likes to keep fit and eat well so he went to shop to buy that and washing powder for his clothes.
He also came up later that afternoon and we both talked some more. He said he had been very flattered by the attentions of this high powered business woman and had got carried away, swore there was nothing physical.
He told me he would give me her mob number once I had calmed down and to be careful what to say to her as it would cost him his job. he said he would give it to me the next morning whilst on the train as he was away for a few days on a business meeting.
Next morning he phoned and gave me her number, I put it in the drawer as after all the trauma I could not face calling her, was in no state to do so. later that evening after another sleepless night, he phoned sounding like his normal self, and I told him I had not contacted her, but he probably knew that as she would have phoned him if I had.
I then asked him when he was coming home and he said he wasn't. he said it was so out of character for him to do that and that the blinkers had been taken off his eyes and that he must have been very unhappy to have done it in the first place.
I got very upset, begged him to come home, but he won't. He is staying at his mum's. I ended up in hospital after trying to end it all. Can't imagine life without him. And now he wants to settle all our financial affairs and divorce. Am distraught. We have two daughters, one is sitting her Higher exams right now and the other is expecting a baby. They have been so wonderful, they are so strong, told me I am better without him. He had been treating me badly weeks before and I knew something was "off", that was why I had looked at his phone.
He has said he can't forgive me for looking at his phone and have now destroyed all trust. And that I would make his life hell as I would now be paranoid and forever questioning what he is doing.
He says he has no energy left, nothing to give, and that my health problems have drained him. I have anxiety and stress. But it is not as if he was a carer, I did most things for him! He doesn't know what he wants, but he knows he does not want "this.
I am devastated, cannot do this anymore. Have been a mess, shaking stuttering, he was over Frid night and said he is never coming back and that we will be divorcing.
How do I do this? How can I live without him? We have been married for 27 years, ever since we were 15 years old.
I always had a feeling I would die early, in my forties, and this is it, this is "my death", I will never get over this. It is getting worse.

OP posts:
PenelopePortrait · 23/05/2013 20:24

Who knew I was married to a narcisist for all those years? Yep, me apparently

We did, hence the posts above.

springymater · 23/05/2013 20:38

Well, that's a HUGE part of the puzzle in place then!

rah rah rah! Onward and upward now. You were with a monster all that time - and now you know! Brilliant! Smile Smile

I didn't know he was a narcissist btw. Just a shit.

PenelopePortrait · 23/05/2013 21:03

It's the same thing to those on the receiving end of it springy Smile

Chubfuddler · 23/05/2013 21:10

The best revenge is to live well and be happy. He won't, a narc doesn't know how to.

PenelopePortrait · 23/05/2013 21:23

It's great when the penny drops isn't it? The realisation that's it's him and not you. I can feel what it was like when I had my 'penny dropping' moment, am smiling thinking about it. Smile

mrsmciver · 23/05/2013 22:31

Oh yes massive penny dropping moment that one.
He really is not worth my pain and agony. He is such a twat with his tortured mid life crisis, and some of the things that he is saying as well are definitely not from him.
I will never forget the counsellor tonight nodding and smiling at me at the 'penny dropping moment'. My face must have been a picture.
Now, don't get me wrong ladies, I am no angel by any means, but I have been justifying this man all my life, making excuses for his behaviour. Not any more.

OP posts:
springymater · 23/05/2013 23:40

YAY ! [does victory dance]

Penny - I was married to a narcissist sociopath shit so I'm not always looking for the narcissist under the bed iyswim.

MumnGran · 24/05/2013 06:18

Chubfuddler couldn't have put it better!the absolute greatest revenge against men of this kind is to become the strongest person you can be. They hate it. Return to being the happiest girl you can be (remember the days before marriage!) because they hate that too.

I am so sorry that your eyes have been opened in this way, but I am not surprised by it Mrs M. We knew, because even the small things you said added up to a man with a real control problem ....for anyone who has been there. Narcissist sounds about right. The trouble is, most of us don't see it when we are "happily" getting on with married life. Its a bit like an abused child who wants to stay with its parents because abuse is all it has ever known.....so it thinks that is the way life is!

Penny dropping moments can be a real shock, but once you have had them you never look back ....and in understanding, lies strength.

Rock on Mrs M Smile

Joy5 ..... you are doing such a brilliant job, for your son. He will always always think of his mum with love, and remember you making birthdays amazing. In the end, it is the X's that lose out. We try to protect our children from the worst of their neglect, but kids are pretty smart. Cahnces are he will want little to do with his father, as an adult. Its a hard road Joy, but you are doing so well.

Springy .... my kind of girl. Wish I had thought of adding shoes into the shopping trip. Could have bumped the bill by another 4 figures!!
I am not sure mine was a revenge hit, as much as a "look at me f**face, you need to see that I am not just your footwipe!

mrsmciver · 24/05/2013 10:20

Hope you had a good night out Joy.
I was out for the count last night. Must have been the new meds the doctor gave me, no weeping or wailing, no panic attacks all night long.
Feel a little odd this morning but then mornings are always my worst time anyway, that is when I have been most suicidal. But am managing this morning so far. I am going to go and get my hair done, am dreading it because I don't want to break down in the hairdressers as they all know me in there.
I am also going to make dinner for myself, youngest daughter,eldest and her partner later on. Something quick, like a chilli con carne, but at least I will be doing it! My youngest daughter keeps asking me now if we are having dinner tonight! This is all a new concept for her, never used to happen before.
My life is so weird and different now, feel I am living in an parallel universe. That it is someone else all this is happening to and I am looking on from afar.
One day at a time, one day at a time.

OP posts:
Bumblebzz · 24/05/2013 11:04

Hi mrms

I don't really have any advice to give, having not been through this (I am similar age to you, but only settled down at aged 34 or so, having had my heart broken completely at aged 22, which I think made me very tough very young, not necessarily a good thing, but protected from it happening again).
Annnnyway, I just wanted to say that I have read your whole thread and I am in awe of you for coping so well with something so horrendous. I know you have major downs and smaller ups, but the tone in your posts from the very beginning has had a strength and compassion to it that makes me want to cheer you on. I just know that in the future you will be the strong one coming back on here to help others through, because it is so clear that you have at your core what it takes to survive. You are a survivor - look how far you've come already from the day you first found those emails - so please keep fighting to stay strong and look after yourself.
xxx

Joy5 · 24/05/2013 15:41

I had a lovely night out thanks for all your best wishes, did me the world of good, had coffee with 2 friends today too. You've got me wondering now, was my ex a narcissist too? He was always very selfish, putting his career advancement first, letting me take care of all the family stuff, because his work was much much more important!
Feeling down today, how can a father just send his son a card and no present? Youngest son has been grumpy ever since his birthday, but only got sympathy for him, its a hard lesson to learn your Dad isn't that bothered anymore. Sons away on a cricket trip next week too, what he wants to do, so got to smile and say have a nice time, but inside i don't know what i'll do without him here :) luckily i'm working all week, so i'll be occupied and hes here for most of the weekend.
Well done Mrs M, you'v got through another few days and Bumblebzz is right, you are a survivor x

mrsmciver · 24/05/2013 18:19

Bumble, that was such a lovely post, I most certainly do not feel strong but I am fighting to stay here and have a life with my children and grandchild. Maybe one day I will be happy? Can't ever imagine it as I am going through the motions right now.
Will not let him beat me, I will fight him all the way to have a life, a life that he won't have with his children and grandchild always being there.
I will never ever understand how he could walk away from that. What kind of man would do that?
Joy, am sorry about your ex not sending anything for his son's birthday. It is hard to comprehend how a father could do that to his son.
Your ex sounds like my ex, putting himself before his own children. How did we never realise what these men were like when we lived with them? Were we so blinkered? We must have been.
Hugs to you and you and your family. xxx

OP posts:
mrsmciver · 25/05/2013 17:55

Hello ladies! Had a lovely day today, was nice and sunny here so I met my eldest daughter from work and went to the park to have a little picnic. Sat for 2 hours on a bench in a tiny sunspot and we just chatted away and sat and people watched. It was so nice.
Exh texted last night wanting to come up and cut the grass over the weekend, I texted back saying not to bother. His daughters don't want to see him either so god only knows what he is up to. He is away next weekend on business ( possible shagfest) so he will try and see them this week, but they are not bothered at all about seeing him. They are just disgusted by him. I will not be trying to mend any bridges between the girls and him, that is up to him now.

OP posts:
whitesugar · 25/05/2013 19:13

Hi Mrs Mc and everyone, been following this thread and been catching up today. Just wanted to add support to all MNs currently heartbroken, it really is a dreadful time. The other thing I want to say is that reading through the posts resilience breaks through. I don't want to underestimate the agony and it is total agony but another thing that strikes me is how kind everyone is on this thread and at times completely hilarious. You seriously have got to love women! Women, whose husbands shit on them from a height and leave their kids distraught, still plough on through the birthdays and the school days and all the days.

Honestly those men who think they are so effin fantastic won't look so fantastic when the OW cops on that they are twats and their children don't want to know them because they have treated their families like shit. You would nearly have to feel sorry for them - but not quite!

Keep getting up every morning and putting one foot in front of the other, even if its only down to the kitchen to make a cuppa and go back to bed for the day. Fingers crossed that things get better, for me it did and my EXH was the king of bastards!!

MumnGran · 25/05/2013 20:07

Hi Mrs M so glad you have had a lovely day! daughters are just brilliant friends, sometimes, aren't they Smile
Have a Wine to round the day off in style!

Re "I will not be trying to mend any bridges between the girls and him, that is up to him now." ...... I have to say that I found this the most difficult thing to cope with. My hurts I could handle one way or another, but when you have acted as a buffer to protect your children all their lives, it is truly hard to watch them realise just how nasty their fathers can be.
I had always believed that kids shouldn't be torn apart by marital splits (easier for me because mine were adult/within months of being adult) so I swallowed my own feelings and took the tack that their relationship with their father was their business and they should not feel an ounce of guilt, or worry that they needed to come down on one side or the other.
I then had to watch while my ex comprehensively, and very painfully, destroyed his relationship with his children.
It was horrendous .... and I could neither interfere.

So, Mrs M ..... I would say you are doing absolutely the right thing, for you and the girls, in leaving them to find their own relationship with him ....but it may not be an easy path.

PenelopePortrait · 25/05/2013 20:36

Agree with mum with regard to letting the DC's find their own relationship with him. Mine were younger when we split but it still didn't take them long to work out what a waste of space he was. They are 19 and 25 now and have very little to do with home, they are civil with him but certainly don't go out of their way to have any involvement with him.

Just want to share this - DS lost his mobile yesterday and I've just seen he's put a status on FB saying this. XH has commented "oh so that's why you haven't been answering my texts". I was so tempted to comment " no it's because you are a dick. However, this comment was just for show and for everyone else to see, he won't have been texting at all. he really is a pathetic loser, but everyone knows that now Smile

PenelopePortrait · 25/05/2013 20:37

Very little to do with HIM not home! Bloody Ipad

Joy5 · 25/05/2013 20:58

Thanks mrsM, and don't know how we never realised what our ex's were really like.
So hard to see your children upset by their fathers, but think you're right, they are so selfish and are only thinking about themselves. My middle son has seen his dad tonight for the first time since March at a family wedding, how a father can go so long without contact i'll never know.
so glad you've had some nice time MrsM, every one says the good times happen more and more, the bad times less and less, so hope its the start of even more good times for you :)

mrsmciver · 25/05/2013 22:12

Had a bit of a panic tonight, looked to the future and the terror once again got the better of me. The loneliness gets overwhelming at times too, even though I am not on my own very often. It's being intimate with a loved one, a little look, a saying, a touch from someone that knows you better than you know yourself. I miss all that, where did he go to? That man I shared my life with for so long, this person who has replaced him now, this cold, cruel man who wears the same body but is not the same. Where did he go? I miss him so much. I can't turn that off, but at the same time I know he is no good for me anymore, he has broken me, nearly killed me, destroyed me.
And now I want to do the same to him.
I hope you all do not think too badly of me, did you all feel like that too?
My counsellor says that it is normal to feel like that, but honestly have never hated anyone as much as that in my whole life. How can you love and hate the one person with such intensity?

OP posts:
Chubfuddler · 25/05/2013 22:20

You don't love him. You loved the person he used to be, the person he was. You don't love what he is now.

I'll trot out another cliche: it is better to travel alone than badly accompanied. He was bad company.

ClippedPhoenix · 25/05/2013 22:57

You get up, you function sort of, you get up you function a bit better, you just continue to get up and function, you laugh a bit at something, then you cry again, you start to laugh and cry at the same time, then things start to separate. It takes time but you get there OP.

MumnGran · 25/05/2013 23:05

Love and hate are two sides of the same coin; and I think they are only finally out of your heart, mind, and psyche, when hate also goes .....and you are actually indifferent.

I had to deal with facing my ex at my daughters wedding last year and discovered (having been angst ridden by the thought) that I really had become indifferent. Couldn't have cared less if he lived or died, and my eyes just slid across him in the same way as they did with some of the DSIL's family that I did not know. At which point I realised that I was totally and finally over it. He no longer had any effect on me.
Its only taken 7 years!!

So, I think that (for now) hate is very normal and is going to come and go for you - in varying degrees - for quite a while. It's useful. It will see you through some of the hard times.

skyeskyeskye · 26/05/2013 01:31

Indifference is the long term goal. That means that you don't care what he does or what he thinks or what he says or anything at all. It takes time and I'm still not there after twelve months.

I told my XH that I don't see him because I don't want my DD to see the level of disgust and hatred that I have for him. I told him that after yet another email saying "why can't we be friends, I'm sure DD must wonder why you won't talk to me" . easy for him to say when his heart wasnt broken and betrayed. i switched between love and hate a lot... and DD doesn't wonder, she is too busy running out the door to him. She knows that we aren't friends and understands that.

Your posts remind me so much of my own. The hurt, the disbelief that a loving man can behave in that way. The grief and loss. It takes time to come to terms with it all but your counsellor will help.

I am starting to believe that he wasn't worthy of me, that he didn't deserve me. You will reach that conclusion too in time. Your DD's are old enough to make their own minds up and they will see it for themselves.

Lambzig · 26/05/2013 09:12

MrsM. Glad that you are seeing someone to talk to, it's a very positive move. I also think anger can be a good thing and you have every reason to be angry.

I think you should ask him not to text you, contact through third parties. I am sure that you must jump every time the phone goes and then having to respond about the lawn for heavens sake must be draining.

I too think indifference is the goal. It comes with time and it comes with having your life filled with other things, people and opportunities. One day you will realise you haven't thought about him and the break up for a whole day and that might be sooner than you think, but its on your timeframe.

You are doing very well with this you know, you will look back and be proud of how you coped.

mrsmciver · 26/05/2013 10:08

Mornings are not good, panic about the future, where to go from here, what do I do with my life? I have been a wife all my life, I have ceased to exist, I am no longer here.
The days stretch ahead, no holidays no nothing to look forward to. How do I do this? How do I live? What do I do? Because of my health I feel trapped, terrified, so alone.
He is going on the holiday we had booked together with his pal, is that insensitive? he never cancelled it and I did not want it so he is going to go anyway. He would be too mean to cancel as it was all paid for. My family has said that it is bad he is going on that holiday. I am just relieved he will be away.
What do I do with myself now? I am sitting in this house that needs such a lot done to it, it is depressing being here, do not want to be here.
What do I do?

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