Stiv, that's a very inspiring response. Thank you. It took me a long time to get up enough courage to start the divorce process. I was in therapy for a year with one counselor, then switched to my current therapist, and I took 7 months with him before I finally was able to tell my H I wanted a divorce. One of the things that helped me was reading the book, The Good Divorce. Just in the first chapters, it told the stories of couples like you and your ex-wife, who co-parent, and get along fine, and have the shared interest of their children that still bonds them together. This book gave me hope. Your story reminds me of what I read in that book. Very uplifting. Thank you for sharing.

My H and I are doing collaborative divorce, which is not for those who want to claw each other's eyes out. And like you, because of our process, we have learned to communicate better and be more respectful. Still a lot to learn in that area... My T has said it is so ironic that through divorce like this, many couples learn to get along better than they ever did when they were married. If only we had gotten divorced earlier in our marriage, maybe we wouldn't have needed a divorce!