Thank you for posting, Vickie in Phoenix.

It is nice to hear your perspective. Just because marriages in the past made it through such horrendous times doesn't mean those people were happier ~ true. Perhaps they felt more trapped, since it wasn't socially or religiously acceptable to end their marriage.

Letting myself feel the pain isn't as easy as it sounds. I've fought major depression for many years. There's a fine line between major depression and suicidal idealization. I end up avoiding more stress and depression. I do have some helpful techniques of working through the stress ~ but they only help in the moment. Keeping busy then leads to avoidance. Am I making sense? I hope so!