@RDMercer you mention how you want to get back to the home and family life you had.

Aside from her abuse of alcohol, I think your wife wants something different in her life. I think she doesn’t really know how to articulate this need. She wants to be something other than the wife and home maker.

This tends to happen as the children get older and are embarking on their independence. It tends to bring forward a part of self that has passed and what Is missing in self.

You mention this change slowly developing over the last 5 years. Yes, that is indicative of the development of a desire for change that many women experience. Men tend to experience a similar crisis when they hit age 50.

Also included in this is the biological change of life a woman experiences where a woman is experiencing a hormonal shift. Some women have a real hard time when they go through the change. This change can happen any time between age 40 to 58 with the average taking place around age 51.