Young And Disillusioned With My Husband Posted: 07-07-07 21:53pm
Okay, here it goes:
I met my husband in an online chatroom
when I was 18. I had a lot of difficult
things going on at that time. I had been
kicked out of college, my dad left my mom
after a bitter fight that had been
building for years, my sister ran away
from home and I had lost my job. At the
time I would go online a lot to get away
from reality and that's how I met Paul.
Paul was very sweet to me. I told him all
that was going on in my life and he would
comfort me. He was from west africa and
was attending college in germany. He was
sure that I was the woman he'd always
prayed for, as I was young, sweet and
academic. After six months of chatting, he
came to visit me in California for
christmas. it was there that he proposed
to me in front of my friends and family
and I said yes.
The next March, we got married. I was 19.
We stayed with my mom. At the time we
didn't have any money and he didn't have
permission to work in the US. So I worked
in an office while awaiting his
citizenship to be approved. After a few
months it finally came through. But within
those few months I started to see how
different we really were. To me he was
ridiculously frugal and acted much older
than he actually was (he's 8 years older
than me). He was very critical of
everything I did and was quick to raise
his voice and get frustrated with me
whenever something went wrong. He was very
superstituous due to his culture. To him I
was just immature and inexperienced with
life. We fought a lot, mostly over money.
Little by little I began to see him
differently than the picture I had painted
of him in my mind.
After about a year of marriage, I found I
was pregnant. We still didn't have a place
to live. Even through the pregnancy we
fought all the time, even though I was
worried that it was affecting the baby.
About three months after the baby was
born, we moved in with a friend because my
mom lost her house. But after a few months
we moved out because my husband wasn't
paying rent like he said he would. So I
moved back in with my mom. Paul decided
that he wanted to be a truckdriver and
went off to drive cross country, leaving
me to care for the baby and look for a
job.
While he was gone I felt happy for the
first time in awhile. I realized that I
was actually at peace and wasn't
frustrated when my husband was gone. The
first time I saw him after three weeks, I
actually dreaded it and tried very hard to
avoid argument. When he went away, I was
relieved again.
Don't get me wrong. My husband isn't all
bad, but our personalities clash so much
that it's hard for me not to be frustrated
whenever my husband is around. I am
spontaneous and love to laugh while he is
very rigid and serious. It strikes me
because people in his culture are usually
very friendly and happy-go-lucky. Having
to deal with my husband's constant
criticisms and emotional outbursts have
worn me down a lot. I have told him before
that i want a divorce, and he kept
emphasizing that once we get financially
settled then everything between us will be
fine. But I know it's not the money. I
know that I married too young and too soon
and I have been terribly disillusioned
with my marriage. Paul still lives away
from me and the baby because of work and
I've found that I'm perfectly happy
raising her on my own, and that I just
want to be alone to get to know myself the
way a woman in her early twenties should.
Most people tell me that I should try to
make the marriage work but there is simply
nothing to work with. So now that I've
told my whole story I wanted to get some
new opinions. Thanks.
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Willa Weintraub
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 3399 Location: The Beach!
Thanks: 30
Thanked:46
Posted: 07-09-07 13:57pm
follow your heart.thats the best advise
anyone can give in this situation. Divorce
should try to be avoided but hey,if your
not happy at all why stay with him?I think
you should do what you feel is right!