@ justempty -

I do see your point, though I think that I could have phrased things a little better.

To be honest, I'm not actively seeking to have an "affair" - I still love my wife, though I may no longer be in love with her.
It's just that I'd like, maybe even need, to have a friend that I can hang out with and share my emotions, fears and whatnot with, and maybe a friendly hug now and again. It tends to be a little... awkward to do that with fellow males.
If that friendship would happen to evolve into something more, then, well, I'd deal with that then.

My wife has a decent support network to lend her a sympathetic ear - I just have no one but her, and since her surgery, she has become increasingly "meh" toward my concerns.

That, plus the other things going on in my life (and the world today) have really started getting to me lately. There may be a small bit of mid-life crisis in the mix, but I've never been one for much excitement anyway.

I still don't think that what I've written sounds right, but it should be closer.

TiO.