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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

I can't seem to move on

166 replies

citybumpkin · 18/11/2015 17:51

It has been over 18 months since my DP left me and I still can't seem to move on. We had been together for 8 and a half years and he was the love of my life. Our relationship was far from perfect (who's is?). When we met (and throughout) he was a workaholic with little time for our relationship. Two years in, I wanted to marry/have kids with him but he refused. One day I just burst into tears and was comforted by a male colleague. I was lonely and feeling neglected and unfortunately we had several flirty conversations. Completely wrong and the ex found out (after hacking into my computer as I was seemingly behaving differently - I went on a night out with friends). We got over this or so I thought.

Fast forward several years, the relationship was going ok, not perfect, he was still working ridiculous hours and I was looking after our home, dogs, families. I did wonder over time about him working away so much and all the late nights but trusted him implicitly. He reached the age of 40 and had a week's worth of benders with friends - one of them being a night out with a female colleague. I thought nothing of this... Then in April last year he said he wanted he needed space. We talked and argued. He refused to attend Relate with me. I tried to be grown up, even though I was falling apart, and said he should leave. One week later, we met up and he said it was definitely over. I was heartbroken.

In the months that followed, I emailed/phoned/texted wanting answers and wanting him back. The abuse that was hurled at me was horrific - I still have visions of the words "slut slut slut" on my phone as he constantly texted/accused me. I discovered a few months after this that he had someone else. In fact the same someone else that he had enjoyed a birthday night out with. At that time she was married with a 4 year old and a 3 month old baby. They had both cheated on their respective exes.

Recently I have wondered what exactly happened. I know the OW had just moved house with her husband so i take it the husband was forced to move out and my ex moved in immediately. So many questions...including how can this be a good foundation for a relationship? Two cheaters. Apparently she was advising my ex on the relationship with me and then lo and behold she cheats on her husband?! Did the OW and her husband have a child to "fix" their relationship? Sorry but all of this is wrong. I find it all so hypocritical and contradictory. I don't feel hatred towards my ex or the OW, I would actually just like answers and for them to be completely honest with all around them, children included. I am sure as hell she didn't tell her husband that she cheated on him, just as my ex lied to me and referred to me as the slut.

I suppose I will never get answers and I will eternally be left feeling the bad party. Towards the end of our relationship I discovered that I was being overly maternal, domesticity had turned into nesting, and initiated fertility testing (I was 38 at the time). I wanted us to have a family. Now this is all lost. I feel that I wasted years on the relationship with him. That I now will not be able to have the family I desired all those years ago.

OP posts:
tribpot · 30/12/2015 22:25

Last month you said At that time she was married with a 4 year old and a 3 month old baby. They had both cheated on their respective exes ... All the time he was calling me a slut he was screwing someone else's wife ffs. And why the fuck do I still love him and miss him?

And no, he didn't have 'every right' to check up on you in the manner that you describe.

You need to re-read this thread, I think. You have gone backwards since it started, because of this unfortunate episode of contact at the end of November.

citybumpkin · 30/12/2015 22:26

Just hoping he realises that the grass isn't always greener but he is still with the other woman. All very painful.

OP posts:
citybumpkin · 30/12/2015 22:29

I only assumed he was screwing her as he told me something nearly happened with someone else (which was her) when he was doing his leaving speech. A few months later and he is with her. Not just coincidence? Yes, I've gone backwards. If he hadn't responded to that text then...

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citybumpkin · 30/12/2015 23:01

I just feel very lost. Still don't have answers and have almost been manipulated by his texts. In his last text he offered me the truth and I responded with "just be truthful to yourself".

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citybumpkin · 30/12/2015 23:34

Why is this so difficult?

OP posts:
Dogladyy · 31/12/2015 05:05

I encourage you to read this article OP.

abuseisnotasecret.com/women-who-return-to-abusive-relationships-are-addicted/

citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 07:26

I don't think he was abusive. I think I was the problem. That I didn't care or love enough. He accused me of not communicating and being emotionally inept.

OP posts:
citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 09:47

I really just want my life with him back. We couldve had our own little family now. I feel like I completely screwed up.

OP posts:
wowis · 31/12/2015 12:00

city, you can't go backwards can you... to me it seems like you should be on your own and thinking about what you need to get yourself sorted first. This guy is not the answer he just is the nearest thing to wgat you want so you're fixated to it.
Look the other way and stop holding on to the past, genuinely ive been there and you can't see whats ahead if you're always looking behind yourself..

citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 12:05

I'm still struggling to understand why he left, what part did I play, how someone can tell me they love "our little life" and leave, to then find out they've moved onto someone else so soon. It doesn't make sense. I must have been a very bad partner.

OP posts:
tribpot · 31/12/2015 12:09

Or he was?

wowis · 31/12/2015 12:09

well possibly for him you weren't right...there are loads of reasons why he might have left. We never really know whats going on in someones head my husband walked out when I was pregnant with a planned baby jst upped and left. SDoesn't automatically mean I was a shit wife does it?

Stop obsessing about it and get on with looking forward. you're wobbling the tooth by texting him and thinking about it. The more you do that the harder it will be.
Accept it wasn't right for you both and look forward.

citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 12:15

Sorry to hear about your H leaving. Makes my griping seem a little daft.

I just love him very much and have so many unanswered questions. I'm feeling hurt as I really wanted a family with him and now that isn't possible. My new partner is lovely/understanding but is a fair bit older than me. I'm 39 (40 in a few months) and wondering whether I will ever have a family. It hurts even more knowing he is now with someone with children and they are happy.

OP posts:
ALaughAMinute · 31/12/2015 12:34

You said the relationship was "far from perfect" and you both had affairs so why do you want him back?

Perhaps you are grieving over what might have been? In which case you need to give yourself time to heal and accept that the relationship would never have worked.

Maybe you are upset because your new partner isn't right for you either?

wowis · 31/12/2015 12:35

god don't feel bad for me op it was 5 years ago and i'm now engaged to someone faaaar better! it was awful at the time but id go through it three times to be here. I was juast trying to illustrate for you that him leaving doesnt need to be a reflection on you... I think what you have just said is whats really happening... you want to be happy settled and making a family and he's the last thing that looked like that to you...
get yourself on dating sites if your current partner isn't right (and if you have feelings for your ex and he's polyamorous anyway it doesnt sound quite right tbh..)
If your ex has moved on great there are children involved there so leave them to it. and remember other peoples relationships always look amazing when we feel lonely and rubbish. If hes got shit going on that made him leave you out of the blue let someone else have him!!!good luck to her.
It hurts but focus on doing new things for you . There is something better out there for you.xx

citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 12:48

I suppose I still feel guilty for flirting with another years ago and feeling I am to blame for him leaving. We were right for each other in so many ways - he even said so in one of his recent texts.

My new partner is someone I've known for years who my ex forbade me to have contact with. OH was there after the break up but we didn't really get together until earlier this year. I'm too old to start all over again and the thought of dating scares me witless. OH is lovely but his polyamory does worry me, not as much as it once did.

I know I'm probably grieving what could have been and am angry with the ex as he moved on so quickly, was vile towards me in the months after when he did have someone else. Projection?

OP posts:
citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 12:57

Out of the blue? He sent me a card on valentines day (the front saying "this person is an absolute twat). Inside he had written about my faults but that he wanted to offer me the rest of his life. I was flabbergasted by the front of the card, let alone the words. That weekend I had booked a hotel for valentines/his birthday. Nothing was said about the card. At one point he disappeared for cigs, even though he already had some. We had a great night. The following week was his birthday. On the day I had booked a restaurant for his family. The rest of the week he spent getting drunk with friends - including the night with the someone else. The week after he went on holiday for 10 days with one of his mates. I was invited but thought he could do with some time out. He came back, went straight back to work. I spent time with family as my mum was seriously ill. Everything was just going on as normal. Then at the end of April...

I had access to the phone bills. He had phoned her persistently during May and June (after he had left), added her to his netflix account, then in August she started to work for his company. Her husband moved out of their new home, the ex moved in with her. All too quick. He just never gave me the opportunity to discuss. It was a done deal. Wouldnt do counselling etc. After over 8 years together...

OP posts:
citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 13:57

I now feel like messaging him to ask why.

OP posts:
tribpot · 31/12/2015 14:20

Given how this one contact has set you back, another would be madness. What does your OH think about it? Does he think you are a bad partner? He can't think that further contact is in your best interest, even if he doesn't have more monogamous jealousy issues to consider. He still cares about you, I hope.

citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 14:53

OH does really care. He has said that the ex put me through so much emotional abuse but I feel he is biased. The Relate counsellors and friends have said the same re the EA but all I can think is that I drove him to it. I know it would be madness to contact him but I need some sort of closure on this. The texts have left m with some sort of hope that he may want me back.

OP posts:
citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 14:59

He doesn't think I'm a bad partner, far from it. On a daily basis he tells me he loves me, texts throughout the day etc. He travels a lot for work but yet
we manage to communicate more than most couples. I just feel unlovable I suppose. The ex didn't want me and moved on so quickly. It really must have been my fault.

OP posts:
tribpot · 31/12/2015 15:16

So if it was your fault he cheated (because let's be honest, he did), it must have been his fault that you (sort of) did, right? I mean that's just logic.

Your new guy is obviously not the one to settle down with in a cottage with roses round the door but he loves you and wants the best for you - that's not being biased. Everyone you know has said the same thing - your ex's behaviour is his responsibility and his alone. What you are believing is unhealthy and untrue.

Incidentally, if you want to have a baby, I suggest you just get on with doing it, instead of messing your current OH around by fixating on 'what might have been' with this selfish, mean prick.

citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 18:14

I just feel guilty for him leaving. Perhaps it was because I started to do my own thing, concentrated on my work and family but still loved him. What was I supposed to do when he worked so much? I spent a lot of time alone so needed to care for me. He left saying he felt very lonely. He was the one working so much. I was the one at home night after night caring for our home and family (the dogs, inc. his very sick dog). I should have done more.

OP posts:
citybumpkin · 31/12/2015 18:20

Did he cheat??? I admitted to seeking the attention of another. He found out by hacking into my computer. He forbade me to talk the guy again. I didnt until the guy contacted me two years later and we met up. Guy tried it on and I left. The ex found out as he was tracking me on my phone and I'm very honest, came clean.

After this the ex told me I had to attend counselling. One point he took me out for a meal, told me I was bipolar, that he had spoken to a doctor about me and they had confirmed it, said I needed help. He said this in a busy restaurant. As we were leaving he told me he was horny and that we had to have sex later. He then left me stood in a car park while he went back out to work.

I went to counselling for a year. I worked on me and my part in our relationship. I went to my gp and told her I thought I was bipolar. She doubted it but referred me to the mental health unit. I never went.

OP posts:
tribpot · 31/12/2015 18:27

Yeah, him telling you that he had spoken to a doctor and you were bipolar - definitely your fault.

Him telling you I don't even know quite what - that he was coercing you into sex - definitely your fault.

Did he cheat? Who knows. He will never tell the truth. But the facts are, he's gone, he's with someone who he was seeing socially in the dying days of your relationship. He treated you like crap and, despite almost never being at home, had the cheek to say he was lonely.

Look - this is your choice. You can carry on beating yourself up about the end of the relationship and obsessing about how you could have done things differently but it is over. He is a dreadful person and you are well shot of him. Why not spend a bit more time enjoying your life with your new OH? It's one thing to be polyamorous, quite another to be morbidly hung up on an ex.

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