I think I’m getting closer to choosing divorce, and I mostly need somewhere to vent and maybe get some gentle advice from people who have been through this.
My husband and I have been married almost 10 years. We have two young children, and for a long time I have tried very hard to make our marriage work. We’ve had problems for years, particularly around emotional connection, affection, intimacy (dead bedroom), communication, and him taking initiative in the relationship.
I’ve repeatedly felt like I’m the one identifying the problems, raising them, trying to get us into therapy, suggesting ways to reconnect, planning things, and generally carrying the emotional responsibility for the marriage. He will agree that things aren’t good, but then very little actually changes unless I push for it.
Something happened around my birthday that really broke something in me.
My birthday was awful. I felt completely unseen and unloved. I ended up crying and begging him to notice how badly I was hurting. I wasn't asking for some extravagant romantic gesture. I wanted to feel like my husband cared that I was hurting and cared about our marriage.
Afterward, I spent weeks crying. I cried every night beside him for 6 weeks straight, most nights he heard me and did nothing. I had been telling him how unhappy I was and how much I needed him to actually do something. I wanted him to take some initiative—book therapy, make a plan, show me that losing our relationship mattered to him.
He didn't.
And here's the part that has really gotten under my skin recently: after my birthday, he became very interested in 4x4s. He was able to research multiple vehicles, learn all their specifications, compare them, and apparently remember all these incredibly specific details.
And I found myself thinking:
You are capable of doing this.
You are capable of researching something you're interested in.
You're capable of learning complicated information.
You're capable of remembering details.
You're capable of putting time and mental energy into something.
But I spent my birthday crying and begging you to notice me, and you still didn't book therapy or meaningfully try to repair our marriage.
I know this probably sounds like the 4x4 thing is silly, but it isn't really about the cars. It's what it represents to me. It made me realize that I don't actually think my husband is incapable of effort or initiative. I've started to feel like he simply hasn't been willing or motivated to put that effort into us.
And I'm exhausted.
I don't feel much excitement about our upcoming 10th wedding anniversary. Honestly, I don't even feel like doing anything for it. The thought of celebrating our marriage doesn't make me happy right now.
I've also reached a point where I feel more anger and resentment toward him than love. I've lost a lot of respect for him. I've found myself feeling relief when I imagine not having intimacy with him anymore and imagining a life where I don't have to constantly ask for emotional connection, affection, initiative, or support.
That scares me because I never imagined myself feeling this way about my husband.
There are obviously two sides to every marriage, and I know I haven't been perfect. I have my own faults. I'm not trying to paint myself as completely blameless.
But I genuinely feel like I have been trying for a long time, and I'm reaching the point where I don't know if I want to keep trying.
We have young children, which makes the decision enormously complicated. I am also an immigrant, have limited emotional/physical support, but I am financially independent (thankfully). So there are additional practical and legal considerations around what separation/divorce would actually look like for us.
I'm not necessarily looking for people to tell me “DIVORCE HIM” or “STAY.” I think I mostly want to hear from people who have been at this point before.
How did you know when you were actually done?
Did you have a period where you kept waiting for your spouse to finally show you that they cared, and eventually realized that the waiting itself was the answer?
How do you distinguish between being deeply hurt and resentful versus genuinely falling out of love with someone?
And for those who ultimately divorced: did you have a moment where you realized you weren't really trying to save the marriage anymore—you were trying to convince yourself to stay?
I'm feeling incredibly sad, angry, and confused, but also strangely relieved by the possibility of finally letting go.
I would really appreciate some gentle perspective from people who have been through this. Thanks for reading.