First and foremost, I appreciate everyone's prayers and suggestions. This has been a very difficult time and it's been even harder not having a community. I'm so thankful to have found community here. Thank you.
For reference, this is in regards to this post: https://greatawakening.win/p/17t1fU9bUd/please-say-some-prayers-for-me-a/c/
Some people said I should snoop on her phone and see if I can get to the bottom of what's going on.
She left the house today and left her phone. Pretty bizarre that she did that. She never does that. Where'd she go? Who knows. I didn't ask. She was gone about two hours - honestly - I don't care and asking just shows clinginess. Going to cheat? I don't know. Saw that on our cameras she was wearing a bathing suit, so probably going to the beach. Though oddly enough there wasn't a speck of sand in the car. Hm.
Anyway, I actually feel like she left her phone as a test to see if I'd go on it (once you unlock it, the notifications disappear, so it's obvious someone was using it). She left it sitting right on the kitchen table. She knew I had my lunch break coming up and probably figured I'd try. Or maybe she just sincerely forgot her phone, who knows. I tapped it once - several notifications, but nothing that alarmed me. I didn't unlock the phone. Instead, I went and grabbed her computer. Messages are not linked up. Weird. But photos from her phone are synced.
What did I find?
Well, to elaborate on something ya'll dont know, her ex-husband passed away several years ago (4+ years ago now). I was there for her during this. It was really hard on her and, to be honest, it was really hard on me, but in a different way. Not trying to sound narcissistic, it was just really weird and difficult to watch your spouse of over a decade mourn the loss of her ex and have to comfort her over that. I did my best and went through it with love. It wouldn't have felt so weird if it didn't last so long - maybe a few weeks? She spent nearly a few months crying - every day was just straight miserable. We still have some of his belongings here in our house, alongside some of his ashes. It's weird.
Well, lo and behold, I see all these saved photos to her phone. Like each and every one saved every few days, every few weeks, over the last several months. All photos of him, photos of him and her together, variety of things that were all screengrabs from Facebook. Old comments on his facebook page from random people that say "We miss you", etc. Odd because we share a facebook account and I don't see that in the Facebook history log - guess she deleted it.
So this is weird. Maybe she's still in some kind of weird denial that she shouldn't have married me, should have stayed with him? I dont know. Note: I am not a 'homewrecker' - they were divorced for two years before we met. And in fact, what's weird as absolute hell, is she told me when we met the exact following quote: "He was such a terrible person - when we separated, I never went back. Not once. I never once went back." And I did see over the years just how he was with his outbursts and abuse. She loathed him while he was alive. Now that he's gone, he's a hero.
What are ya'lls thoughts on this? This is extremely unhealthy.
I've taken a lot of time to reflect. Here's what I've figured out that I need to be doing, at least for myself right now.
-Time to man up -Bought several books on masculinity -Bought some dumbbells for the house -Signed up for a gym membership -Read some articles and watched some videos on posture - going to stop carrying myself with a slouch and start being proud of who I am.
Time to present myself as a man and not be whiney about all this. We'll see what happens.
With ya'lls prayers, I can say that it has definitely helped my strength. A few days ago I felt like I was at the end. Like literally just the complete end of it all. Today, even with the above mentioned things, I felt a sense of strength. And, honestly, hope.
Thank you everyone.
No offence, but don't do any of this. Your wife has made it clear she is no longer in love with you - anything you do now to try and sway her back to you will only drive the wedge further. Trust me, I've seen this a thousand times.
I have a strong feeling your wife got with you in order to help herself get over her EX. Without knowing how long they were together, the death of a former spouse can very well trigger a depression in people - even if they've been done for years.
Your wife's feelings for you were actually a misconception in her mind that she had real feelings for you, whereas in reality, it was a way to mask her grieving the loss of her former relationship.
Let me ask you some questions :
Did your wife grow up without a father? What's her mother's personality like? Her phone, is it pass worded?
Possible you married a narcissist. A narc will do exactly this when you stop feeding their ego. Most of the time this comes from straight up boredom. See, regular life is boring for a toxic person - they need constant adoration and believe infatuation is actually what love is.
Over the course of time, infatuation becomes regular love. To a toxic person, when this happens, they feel you have betrayed them or you stopped loving them. They then have to turn it around so it's your fault
You don't just 'fall out of love' with someone unless they are horribly abusing to you - and even THAT doesn't make some people stop loving someone.
The fact she has all these pics of her and her ex could simply mean she never got over him and now that he's gone, she's realized there will never be a reconciliation with him.
Very sorry to tell you this, but it very much seems like your were a emotional filler for your wife. She was able to keep up appearances simply because the idea that her and her EX might get back together ; that hope would keep her going and provide a 'happiness' that others believe she feels for her current life - it's for the life she wants.
Another piece of advice to anyone here who wants it. Do NOT ever, ever get involved with someone who is still attached to their EX ; especially if they were / are married. They have a history you only have one version of - the version the person you're seeing wants you to believe. You will A L W A Y S get hurt if you get involved with someone fresh from a long term relationship or someone who is grieving the death of a former spouse.
sorry for the book, I've lived this ( somewhat ) and see it with many people I know.
Your best advice my friend, is to leave. You can not save anything at this point except your own sanity. This is a major reason why so many men kill themselves - they stay stuck trying to figure it out. You'll never figure it out, friend. You can't control what anyone else does, or how people feel about you. Remember though : the way people feel about you and treat you is actually self reflection - hard not to , but don't take it personal. It's THEIR mental / emotional problem to figure out, not yours.
Be good and true to yourself and leave. Fuck the house, the car, all the shit you own ; get yourself away or this WILL go very, very bad for you emotionally and mentally and you'll never be able to get out of it.
You don't want to be one of the 85% friend.
Your user name gives me nightmares. But your advice is SOLID. OP, please heed this man’s advice! Focus on yourself. Build your empire. And once you learn to identify quality women, you will find them in abundance.
I thank you, I always strive to help others if I feel I have valid input. I watched my marriage dissolve and my wife change into something very similar to some of the behaviour the OP's wife has shown.
The user name yea lol. That's so folks know right away I'm awake :)