Hi Mark,

Thank you for your response.  I think if I showed the post to my husband, it would hurt him more than help.  I am considering writing a version of it, though, and letting him read it.

I’ve had my own counseling on and off while going through marriage counseling.  I’d consider counseling, but feel I have gotten what I need from it and that is to speak up for myself, set boundaries and avoid toxic people.  Ironically, all of this personal development might end my marriage.

I have many hobbies and interests that fill my time, so it’s not that I want or need my husband to be my source of entertainment.  And I’m very content being alone – to a degree.  But isn’t a spouse supposed to be a source of love and support?  Someone to talk to?  As I’ve mentioned before, my husband is a hard worker, funny and social (with other people, because it’s all surface stuff).  If I do the “work” in our relationship – calling, talking, hugging, positive – he is fine with that.  He doesn’t initiate it, though.  It’s like being married to a tree.

It’s also like waiting at a bus stop for a bus that never comes, or the bus passes by, but doesn’t stop.  How long do you wait?

Airene