I am better on paper and sent this - Confidant: 223: Two Letters - the not so nice one
She said that she preferred face to face. So we had a long, teary (from both sides) conversation yesterday - Sunday. Are we more along the Kubler Ross? I don't know but here are some notes.
Since when
She asked me straight out whether I had already decided to leave after our blow-out in 2015 - Confidant: 61: Huge row - getting worse; Confidant: 70: Fair
'Yes,' I said, 'that was the straw, but much had happened before then. Since and through September this year, I have run lots of scenarios in my head and I can still not come to a different conclusion.'
'Sense of unhappiness'
She put this down not to me or my actions but the huge stress that her family had gone through from an initial diagnosis in 2009 of schizophrenia for one of her brothers to his untimely death in 2017. She and her parents and her other brother had kept it all to themselves and this was the stress being manifested. Those were the 'prime years of my life and fate decreed that the situation happened and I had to support my parents - and I did not share with you.'
I listened. I was not looking to 'win' or rub things in but the issues and anger date from virtually the start of our marriage - Confidant: 141: In the words of Don McLean, The Day the Music Died - April 2000 and Confidant: 164: The Day the Music Died 2 (!). Long before her brother's troubles started.
In my letter to her I do mention Brussels (2000) and New Delhi (2001) and how I felt belittled. She mentioned that I had done everything - from the night feeds for our infant to cutting his nails - and then throughout our lives together. And she concluded that her behaviour was bullying and bordering on domestic violence - the other way round and it would have been labelled as such.
'You should have pushed me more. You should have forced me to work, put limits on spending - you did none of that and I took full advantage.'
'But, why should I have to?' I cried (literally). 'That is not and was not me. You have asked me before what I had wanted from the marriage. And I had wanted a partner. Someone to team with and that is not how it turned out, I am sorry. I used to try and make a joke of it that your all girls' school must have had had training sessions on 'how to control your husband.'. I was doing everything to be that open, helpful and supportive husband.'
'But why? You should have been stricter. I was pampered and I took advantage. You were always supporting me rather than telling me. You doing all that has resulted in this.'
'No, no, no, not at all. What has resulted in 'this' is that I was doing all of that, being the person I thought I should be, doing it because it was the right thing to do, and all I got was hostility in return. Somehow, the two sides of the equation never matched - and I have never understood that. But thank you for saying the things you have.'
Present father and friends
'I remember you took us with you to Bristol when there was a golf weekend. You needn't have and I remember thinking then that you needed more space.'
(Bollocks to this. In those times, if I had to work late a couple of days or went to the apartment / building committee once every quarter there would be drama at home. But, anyway, didn't say that obviously.)
'You are in awe of your friends. You are grateful that they befriend you but they are friends for a reason and you are the one who keeps in touch and have continued to make the links. You say you are not the environment maker but people like the quiet ones too.'
'Yes, I am in awe and I am grateful and I value those friendships - they were very important to me and continue to be. I imagine they must like me too or they would not have stayed in touch.'
The praise bit
'All that stuff about 'leaning in' and finding someone else is rubbish, don't worry about me. I supported you when you moved to Paris and I am not the hand-holding type, I find a solution.'
'Yes,' I reply. 'You did move to Paris and you praise it now but it was stressy every day at the time.'
'Yes, because I wanted to get to work.'
'So, we did cut that off and came back to the UK in 2004.'
'I had lost my mojo by then, the enthusiasm - I accepted that I would not work.'
(Rubbish of course as she was only 31 and was working at a NGO charity in London before we moved back permanently - where she could have started to build a career.)
'I married you - my wife. I did not marry some future child. It was your decision to agree to getting married and it was your decision to have a child and your decision not to work. There was no forcing from me.'
'Yes, I agree. They were my decisions. And then at school most of the mothers were not working and so I had very little motivation.
'I come from a family of working women - my aunt, my mother and everyone else.. I guess I just got tired.'
Work
'You have this complex about success. I hardly dare mention someone doing well and you say, 'I'm sorry I could not provide you with that life'. We have had a very good life.'
'Well, you have told me in the past that I should be ashamed that I had not had a pay rise in five years; that if I were any good I would not be in the situation I am in now; that my only skills are a bit of French and a good driver. You have asked whether I was Head of ... or just a Manager. All of that is not exactly confidence giving.' No response.
'I have been very glad for you,' she says, 'for this latest Ireland gig. You are a people-person and you need to interact with interesting people - you gave that all up for us.'
'No, again no, I did not. Work was important in my late 20s. Then it was you and then it was us as a family. I wanted to break from the past and not be angry and judgemental like my mother, a present, easy going and supportive husband and a father with a focus on the home, unlike my own dad. Not being in a multi-national was not a sacrifice. I was fortunate where I ended up, I did not have to look elsewhere, I could work and come home every day. None of that was a sacrifice, it was what I wanted. I did not want to be a 'provider', I wanted a partner to work with but no matter what I did, how hard I worked there would be hostility and ...'
'Instead you ended up with your mother.'
Post 2015
'I had hoped that things would improve post-2015,' she says, 'but we never talked.' Confidant: 99 – A Dramatic Turnaround
'In 2017 (her brother was ill and then died) I was really grateful to you for allowing me to go to India five times on my own - not many people would have done that.'
'But, that is not even a question M., it is what needed to be done. How could that even be up for debate - and it was not.'
'I am also ashamed of having questioned B. and what I said about her. Confidant: 62: Is this a balanced person? (and, of course, I was impotent)
'I am not stupid. I could feel that you no longer loved me. We slept in separate rooms and how I hoped that you would come across and we could lie side by side and we could talk.'
'Things have been better since 2015 but that was the last straw.' I say. 'Even since then, though, there is anger and control. While washing up in the sink and plugged in to a podcast you looked around to check whether I was cleaning the cooker properly. Small thing but questioning competency and these things accrue.'
Sex
'And this is the hardest thing I'll say. We don't have sex - you do not find me attractive. Though I am sorry I called you impotent.'
'I do and have liked to cuddle,' I respond, 'and we can be non-penetrative.'
'But that is not the same. Every time a viagra ad. comes up on TV, I feel like shrinking since you may think I am giving you a hint.'
'We went to Prague in 2015 M. - when we were having major issues and to see whether we could reset. I was erect but there was no ejaculation. Since then, It has not worked. I have had my testosterone checked ...'
'Only because you found out that it may have a connection with heart issues,' she interjects.
'I have had my testosterone checked and it is ok. So I don't know why an erection does not happen. But I don't want medication because if the heart / mental is not there, what is the point with the physical. And even when we were ok, sex was relatively rare, I would generally be the instigator and you would say 'satisfied?' at the end.'
'I was joking. To protect you I threw away our condoms when you were away.'
Random others
She mentioned that for 25 years she had not enjoyed the Durga puja festivities - only last year when one of her late father's oldest friends was in London did she enjoy it. Not sure what to say about that - that is the tragedy of the passing of time. She then adds how much she appreciates the Christmas' at my brother and sister-in-law's.
She liked how I looked after this family friend and took him to a football match - not out of duty but because I genuinely like doing those things.
'You do not demand anything of me - even a dish for a meal. You are so self-sufficient that you do not ask for anything - sometimes it's nice to be asked.'
'That is true - but I always thought that not being demanding was a good thing.'
'I was the first grandchild and the first next generation in the eco-system of friends and relations,' she says. 'My grandmother used to refer to me as M. the Great. Maybe that led to a lack of self-awareness. Did you speak about your mother / upbringing in your counselling because you have confidence issues - job, weight etc.?' she asks.
'Yes, in a roundabout way. I remember telling my therapist that I would not have gone to my cricket club dinner had I not, towards the end of the season, scored three 50s in a row - I would not have earnt it, I would feel. I always felt - and that has continued in married life - that I had to succeed, to perform in order for people to like me - and that started in the home, for sure. I appreciate my friends so much because they like me for just myself. And the therapist asked, 'do you like yourself just for you?' Confidant: 97: Counselling Sessions - 2
'And, you know, in our household, patterns have been repeated. In a partnership I would not worry about what I was doing wrong and how you would be upset - it should be about the confidence of doing right. I had hoped to have that in my marriage but clearly not.
'And there has always been a level of hostility towards women I have been close to - and not in a sexual way. Whether this was my cousin or sister-in-law or close friends ...
'And it is not as if I have not said these things. I have written, I have joked. I have warned that my abiding memory of my mother is of her being angry and that you should be careful you do not make the same mistake with our son - Confidant: 149: Tale of Weekends. When I have confronted you, you have brushed it off and said that I was different.' Confidant: 68: Our Son, our lovely, lovely son
'You should have been angry at me.' Oi vey!
We talked about work and I suggested that she would never speak to a colleague like the way she has spoken to our son and me. 'Work is different - we care less. In the home we can be more frank.'
'But,' I say, ' I would imagine that in the home you would be even more gentle - because these are the people nearest to you - and can't or won't fight back.'
'You came from an ordered family with set timings and so on. That stressed me out.' (It can't have or we would not always set off late or work till late clearing up.)
'I didn't really care about any of that - except the time commitment to others,' I respond. 'What bothered me were the double standards. You would go on at me and our son about tidiness or whatever but you never applied those same standards to yourself. That hypocrisy bothered me, yes.'
Counselling
She is trying to find a counsellor and we may go for some couples therapy as well. But I said that that would be in the context of 'transitioning' rather than reconciliation. And I was unlikely to undertake counselling myself.
And then she said a clever thing which I had not articulated in that way before. 'You are saying that living alone will be your therapy?'
'Yes, I had not thought of it like that but, yes, I think that is correct.'
Anyway ...
Conclusion
I am reading a book and there is a quote which initially struck me as eloquent but wrong - but now I see as startlingly correct: ‘A midlife crisis is what happens when you climb to the top
of the ladder and discover it’s against the wrong wall.’ (Joseph Campbell)
It turns out that while I have had the good fortune pretty much to build the the wall I wanted - reasonable work, good standard of living, support at home, friendly, helpful and so on - that was not the wall that was wanted.
'Maybe you work differently, maybe I like instructions. Like I follow recipes.'
'Yes, possibly. I really struggle when being micro-managed - accountability, empowerment, imagination, creativity that is how I work and that is the environment I try to develop. I thought that that was what everyone would want.'
'You focus on the little daily things rather than the big present / gift.'
'Yes again - once more, the continual support, the little things is what I thought was the right thing to do.'
The wall that seems to be wanted is different. The almost traditional 'command and control' wall, the gifts but not the daily support, the housekeeping money and husband-leading was not one I was even capable of building - it would not have been me and it would not have been right. And I am sure she would not have liked it, despite what she says.
So we concluded three or so hours by my saying that too much had happened, too many harsh words had been spoken, there was too much hurt as baggage. Virtually everything that she had said had been positive towards me but the behaviours and language over the years could not be forgotten. I could not package all that up and just put to one side - it was too much of a risk.
'And that is no way for you to live. You mention that you have been stressed at keeping to punctuality as that was important to me. Well, you continually worrying about what I may be feeling or thinking would not be good for you - as much as I have spent many years worrying about your reaction. And that is why I say I will remain alone - because I do not want to get into the maelstrom of worrying about someone else again.' Confidant: 125: Narratives and change
'But keep an open mind?' she says. 'Keep a key to the house. Don't let ego keep you in your position of separation.'
'I won't but, please, do not rely in any way on my changing my mind. I know couples get together again but, as of right now, I do not see that happening. But I will keep an open mind.'
With that we finished and had a very friendly rest of the evening.
What do I make of all that? It was brave, I suppose, of her to be so open. She kept saying that she meant everything and was not saying things to please me or persuade me. I have to believe her though there are a hundred (factual) examples in this blog which would not paint her in a generous light.
And when walking back to the car park from the gym this evening, I asked myself how I felt? What would I feel like in a few months' time? What was the contrast between going back home alone or going back to M., having reconciled - and my heart told me that the former would be light while the latter would be heavy.
Oh, looking back at the title of this entry reminded me of a random question at the end. 'Do you think you are gay?' 'No, I am not.' (I am not going to interpret or deconstruct that!)