No, I didn’t stray. I have anger issues, and over the years, I’ve thought I was just venting, which provided me with pressure relief.
I had no idea that the whole time I was venting, I was deeply wounding her. After 37 years, she’d absorbed too much of that and couldn’t take anymore.
That’s good to hear. It’s easier to fix that. Start wineing and dineing her like you’re a kid in love and maybe you can win her back. You’re going to have to show her you’ve changed and are a loving husband before she walks out the door, though. For instance, having her wake up to a room full of flowers and breakfast. Then take it from there.
If it bothered her, then it was her responsibility to let you know so that you could change your behavior and find another way to vent (away from her). Instead she bottled it in until she decided she had to break her vows.