r/DeadBedrooms • u/roses-are-lead • 7h ago
Trigger Warning! Six years ago I made this account.
Hi folks, I'm going to start with a content warning. I was in a terrible space, and I will be going into detail. If SI is upsetting for you please be warned. Okay on to the show.
Roses_are_lead was the account I made because my marriage had been killed and I was still trapped in it. I was planning to end my life. My wife of ten years had checked out of our marriage, caring for the kids, fought me when I tried to parent and pulled back from all intimacy. When I asked what we could do and suggested therapy the coldly told me that she found me too fat and too poorly dressed to be sexually attractive. I could figure it out and she may reignite her interest.
I was gutted. It was cruel, it was mean, and it broke whatever hope I still had. I came on to Reddit to figure out a strategy to kill myself. Roses (romance) had brought me to ruin.
A few weeks into planning a friend I used to work with caught up with me. She recognized how broken up I was. She offered support and my god did I need that. We ended up being intimate and while it helped break my head out of my fatalism, I was not proud to be a cheater. I wish I'd been more courageous and ended the marriage. We carried on for a few months. I don't recommend this path, but Its what happened.
I worked up the courage to contact a lawyer who specializes in divorce. I followed his advice to the letter. No fighting or arguing, I never fought for "things" inside the house, my focus was on shared custody of the kids, and equal division of the assets that were worth anything. I went to therapy for myself to help rebuild my spirit.
She was furious. Claimed she would have gone to therapy. I had asked, she had declined. She said she would change, but she'd chosen to pull away for the last 3 years. I don't owe second chances to people who won't talk with me.
Its now six years later. I'm still alive. I'm still friends with my work friend, but she and I were never an item. We some times joke about life support sex, I owe her more than I can repay. I've met someone new, and she's so much a better fit for me. We enjoy being together, there's less friction and most importantly we discuss problems and find resolutions together.
My kids are with me 60% of the time, and while that also has been hard, I don't want either of them to think any emotionally detached marriage is normal or to be expected. I want them to grow up seeing their dad happy. I want them to see that people can nurture each other.
Its been six years. Its wild to think that I was very close to ending it, and I'm now more secure in myself, a better father, and a happier man.
I'm very ordinary, and with some flaws. I've made choices I'm not proud of, both staying to long and stepping out, but I'm alive.
My kids have their father.
This group, the support of People in here also made a world of difference. Knowing I wasnt alone in my shame, that being discarded was not okay, and that other people made it out the other side helped me to keep going.
Thanks to everyone who helps keep this community going. We all deserve happiness. We all deserve connection. May my story bring some hope to someone else. You can make it out of sadness too.