Comments on: How to Heal from a Past Affair?? In the Present

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:13:56 +0000

My husband and I married for 20 years. Six years ago I found out that he had an affair with a married woman in a different city. He went to that city three to four times a year on business and always stayed there for two nights. This relationship lasted for four and a half years. This woman wanted to marry him and made him wrote a gurantee. When she finally found out that he won’t marry her, she had an affair with a third man. My husband was jealous and felt betrayed. I found out when he was begging her to take him back. It hurt my feeling enormously. Once I found out, my husband suddenly wasn’t interested in her any more and started to fully devoted in me and our marriage. We have two boys. Two years have passed, it still hurts every time when I think about it. In his eyes I’m prettier, sexier and much more intelligent than her. She admired him and flattered him. She surely made him felt good. After they broke, she made ugly comments about him in front of me, she used words that I would never say to him in my life. Now he thinks she is disgusting.

Till this day, I still don’t understand why he wanted her over me.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:10:54 +0000

My husband cheated on me three days after we ‘renewed’ our vows. Ironically the reason we went through the ceremonial charade was because he had confessed to an earlier transgression, and we both agreed, or at least I thought he agreed, it would be a great start towards a new commitment. It has been 6 years, and we are still together. I wish I could say I am over it, but the truth is there are many days when I wonder if I will ever recover. I stayed mostly because of the children, and because I believed that repair was possible. The breathtaking pain is no longer there. But what has replaced it is an even scarier feeling of ennui. Most days, I just don’t care. If it works out, great. If it doesn’t I know I’ll survive. I have come to believe that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. I also know I am more cynical than I used to be. My religious faith suffered as well. I never blamed God, but I have a hard time allowing anyone, even God, to crack the shell I have so carefully fashioned around my heart.

It makes me wonder if I made the right choice by staying.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:13:53 +0000

This issue runs so deeply in so many lives I can’t even get over it. I am the daughter of a man that cheated both on my Mom and my Step-mom. He cheated on my Mom when I was still an infant. The moment my Mom found out what happened she left him and became a raging alcholic for the next 25+ years…always feeling like she wasn’t good enough and so lost in her sorrows. I was raised by her and watched many men pass in and out of our lives because my Mom couldn’t find it within herself to be happy and confident in what she had, and still has, to offer a man. My Dad finally wrote her a long letter a few years ago that expressed his deep remorse for his actions and his genuine guilt that still sits with him today. This has proven to start my Mom down a path of slow healing and I’m so happy to report that she’s in a loving relationship finally at the age of 51 and I believe her life will only get better from here now that she’s starting to see how wonderful and beautiful she is!

The woman my Dad cheated with is my Step-Mom. Years after he married her she found out he was cheating on her as well!! I’ve never really talked to my Step-Mom about how she’s dealt with the pain after all these years. They are still married and have been for about 27 years now. My Dad and Step-Mom have two of their own children together.

When I was about 10 my Dad told me about his affair w/ my Step-Mom as he knew I would wonder whey my parents weren’t together. Then when I was 21 I moved in w/ him and my Step-Mom for a short while. At the time I lived a long ways away from my Dad and on the long drive home to his place he confessed his infidelity against my Step-Mom. Now, you should know that I have the deepest respect for my Dad and love him VERY much. It hurts me so much to know that such a wonderful man could do such things to two of the most loving and gorgeous women I know! To this day I’ve never asked him “Why?”. I just love him and want all of them to be happy!

I guess I’m writing this because I’m now 31…never been married…and suffer greatly in my relationships because I always end up w/ terrific guys but can never bring myself to truly trust them! I would be so honored to be even half the woman that my Mom and Step-Mom are and if they can be cheated on SO CAN I!! I’m a deeply loyal person because I know first hand how much pain this type of betrayel can cause everyone involved!! I care so much for the wonderful man I’m in a relationship w/ now and I hope to find the strength to believe that he is just as capable of being faithful as I am. If you’ve been the one to cheat on your spouse and you have children…make sure you don’t forget the effect this has on them! You may not realize how deep this wound can be for them as well.

At the end of the day we all make mistakes…I think it’s important that we all realize that nobody is better then the other. I will get up everyday and try to be a little better then I was yesterday. I’m grateful to have someone in my life that is patient and willing to understand where I’m coming from. I hope the best for all of you as well!!

By: Ann

Ann — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:55:11 +0000

Yes I do wish there was more help on-line for the cheating spouse. I was betrayed by my husband of 17 years with a friend of ours. I trusted my husband completely we have always brought our children up to be honest in in a God loving family. This woman protrayed herself as a CHRISTIAN woman always praying for others, in fact I found out she was also always PREYING on married men. It took my husband 3 years to figure her real motives out. How do you deal with the OTHER WOMEN who will not let go, even when they are confronted by the wife? She even showed up to my father-in-laws funeral it was extremely upsetting to my children. My husband has never wanted to seperate, but this woman has become so over bearing and entangled in my life. I feel like I can not breathe. I have been to counsling and I am a forgiving person.

By: Anita

Anita — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:02:30 +0000

Janie,

My husband said that it always felt wrong with the other woman, but it was an escape from the everyday burdens of life. Wouldn’t we all like to have an escape? I think that the majority of people involved in an affair know that it’s wrong. They don’t really want to end their marriages or they would have done that in the first place, they are trying to have their cake and eat it too, so to speak. They are getting some needs met form their spouse and some of their neeeds met from their affair partner, they foolishly think that they are so good at juggling the two, they fail to believe that they will ever get caught. When they do, they almost always go back to their spouse, the one they “really” love. My husband has to deal with the guilt of what he has done to our marriage and the immense pain that he has brought upon me, upon us. Yes, cheating spouses hurt too and they do need help. I agree with Kathy that I wish there was more being done to help the cheating spouse understand what the betrayed spouse is going through and to learn how to restore trust, love, and respect. I understand that they would rahter not talk about it. They want it to go away, I guess I would too. I have told my husband that I would never want to be in his shoes. 6 months after the affair had been revealed I learned from the other woman’s husband that she had been involved in an affair with his best friend a few years earlier. During the affair she told my husband that her husband was the only man she had ever slept with. Once this lie was exposed my husband realized all the other lies she had been telling him and what a fool he had been to become involved with her. There is nothing good or pleasant that comes from an affair and I really feel for anyone else who is going through this.

By: Faithful

Faithful — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:18:08 +0000

Ann-
PS…sometimes, sadly, it DOES take a “wake-up call” for some people. Perhaps you, like my husband, did not make a “cry for help.” His issues were largely to do with his mother and his past, more than with me…I was going through a more recent crisis, and had resolved it (we all have issues, of course), but he didn’t say much…he just withdrew. He checked out.

But perhaps the important thing is that your husband IS interested in working on it NOW. Talk to a therapist for guidance. Set aside pride. Is it worth the sin of pride, the false satisfaction of ego, to lose the chance for a healed marriage. I have read that people can come through affairs with a STRONGER, BETTER marriage, if both parties can come together with the right attitude…open hearts, open minds, a lack of desire to “prove” something. I’ve been deeply hurt by an emotional affair but, if my husband can express remorse and willingness to return and work on things, I will not be a “right fighter”; I will not hold it over his head; I will not live in a position of moral superiority. It’s more important to me that we have an amazing marriage.

I am quite empassioned on this topic, but these are just suggestions, of course. I hope you find them helpful and that you find clarity.

By: Faithful

Faithful — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:54:44 +0000

Ann-
Your feeling that your husband only wants to work on the marrieage because he knows about the affair is a classic response. My husband is having an emotional affair, and I was in therapy, improving myself BEFORE HE BEGAN THE AFFAIR. (He has issues stemming from his pathologically-controlling mother, as does his brother; even as adults, they are afraid to stand up to her and renegotiate their relationship with her. As a result, she continues to treat them as young children, incapable of knowing their own minds, which is emasculating for them. My husband has subsequently allowed people to walk on him, and has now “transferred” all that rage to ME). ANYWAY…I was already working on MYSELF and on improving the relationship before the affair began, but once he was in it, he began to rewrite history, and was no longer “open” to me. He did not want to believe that I had good motives. There was only room in his heart for the intoxicating feelings he was getting from the affair (I don’t think it is even so much about THIS specific person for him; it’s about how he FEELS…it’s the chemical alteration to which he’s addicted).
I would humbly posit that perhaps this is what’s occurring in your situation. Granted, everyone is different and I do NOT know your spouse; yet, I have done EXTENSIVE–EXTENSIVE–layperson research on the topic, in an attempt to wrap my head around it, and it is stunning to read, time after time, the EXACT quotes my husband said to me (he thinking he was speaking from his heart)–the “feelings” and the paths that adulterers experience are surprisingly rote. We like to believe that we are unique creatures exercising free will…this research points to a somewhat different conclusion.
According to all the research I’ve read: as long as you are involved with the OP, you will continue to feel scorn for your spouse. You will NOT be able to have ANY semblance of a clear, undistorted view of your spouse or his supposed “motives”. Guaranteed. It makes no difference how intelligent, how learned, how “enlightened”, how liberal you are: you CANNOT overcome this fact. I would suggest what the therapists often suggest: step away from the OP–COMPLETELY cut off contact–for a few months. Allow your head to clear. (If you’re “meant to be” with the OP, NOTHING–not even a few months without contact–is going to dim that burning fire. So why should that daunt you?) You may be surprised, if you can give it a little time and allow yourself to give your spouse the benefit of the doubt, what could transpire. I would suggest doing whatever you can to change your habitual methods of communication and also even the PLACES you communicate. Shake it up. Zag instead of zigging. Seek professional help, if you heaven’t already. And do SOMEthing FUN together!

These are just suggestions, of course. You have free will. But if you “wake up” within the affair a few months or years down the road and have lost what you then realize you truly valued…wow. Our therapist says that a full 80% of adulterers return to the marriage. That’s telling, I believe. Maybe the affair wasn’t as “real” as it seemed. Maybe the marriage wasn’t so bad, either. I know people have affairs because they’re hurting. But they also hurt people. Especially when little ones are involved. There ARE other answers. And sometimes the seemingly insurmountable issues between us just aren’t that insurmountable.

By: Toni

Toni — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:59:36 +0000

Janie, are you kidding me! You knew what you were getting into. You knew he was married. Are we to feel sorry for you? If felt wrong because it was wrong. He ended it abruptly because that is what has to happen for us to be whole once again. There is no explanation needed, he was discovered. He decided that your relationship wasn’t worth the consequences. You both made poor and immoral decisions and now you have to live with it. Next time ask first, “are you married?” If the answer is yes, move on. That simple act of responsibility and respect would have avoided this entire thing.

By: Janie

Janie — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:32:53 +0000

In response to Ann’s column. I also was the unfortunate one in the affair, it always seemed wrong, but the attraction and the love we truly felt for each other made it seem worth it. It has been a long and hurtful time for both of us, nothing easy about it. He abruptly ended it and will not even talk to me or explain what happened, which is quite devastating to me. I feel almost a sense of relief it is over, but do need some form of closure to get on with my life. We are both respected, good people who got pulled together for some stupid reason, and am now hurting the ones we love. So, yes, the people in the affair also need some help and guidance.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:35:39 +0000

YGA — your response has moved me to tears. Thank you so much for your post! I’ve been married to my husband for 7 years — we have two small children (5 and 22 months). I found out three months ago that my husband had an affair over the summer with a friend of mine. It was devastating and a complete surprise. I’m also a religious person and have prayed about this situation constantly. I felt great relief at first . . and gained lots of strength from my husband who was very remorseful. However, as time goes by I’m finding the pain from this situation very acute . . . sometimes moreso. Perhaps it’s fear from not being able to see any light at the end of the tunnel. Where’s the relief?? But I’ll continue praying and working.

I do feel more attention should be placed on the cheating spouse as well. But in my current situation, I wish there were more resources for the cheating spouse on how to build trust and respect again. Because frankly, until the pain of the affair has been dealt with, no other healing can really begin.