This was to be the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. And I did it for twenty-three years. I lost respect for myself. I thought I was doing the right thing by forgiving his actions. These women would cry on his shoulder - rather than with their girlfriends or partners.
Mutual affirmation is easy when real-life demands are lacking.
The angry controller, who cannot deal with intimacy since the partner is expected to anticipate and meet every need, does superficially well in a forum where sexual tension is high and expectations are low. A wife, on the other hand, that is a relationship that can hurt, disappoint, and deprive when the expectation is that one's needs be met. Yet, when I needed his listening ear, along with the compassion that he gave to them - I encountered a closed door. I gave him no boundaries, no limits. I didn't like to argue.