I am touched by your reply. Made me cry. It is awful and what some others have said is amazing. But to those who say it’s easy to leave and kick them to the curb ... the onset is insidious. Then you have a child and get increasingly trapped. It becomes normal. It becomes a way of life. And it is easy to pick the same person again because it damages us (or me) to the core. It’s hard to realize that affection should not be withheld and that it is nurturing. Many abuse men with it. I have done a lot of praying and my counselor is a wonderful Christian. She has taught me that I don’t have to accept treatment but it is hard. Because these type of woman pray on men who are a little more sensitive and maybe aren’t narcissistic enough to believe we are anything but average. It has soured me on the dream that there is that woman out there who is kind and tender and romantic and a partner who wants to take care of me as a man with my emotional and other needs. And it scares me that I will never find anyone. So I setttle and repeat the cycle.
For all the potholes we've encountered, the good has far outweighed the bad, and I'll admit I'm not the easiest guy to get along with.
Mr. D aptly summed it up with "it's all about God." Unbeknownst to me, He set me on a path nearly 45 years ago that allowed me to live a full and wonderful life, and I'm not ready to quit just yet.
Best wishes to you.