SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

Thank you for the posts. I have read them carefully. I've avoided this for due to TMI, but here is something that strikes at the heart of the issue...

My wife is a timid person. She is IMMENSLEY talented, but gets walked all over. She is a remarkable piano player (even had a piano tape out when cassettes were the thing). She has authored 72 books (all but 2 under contract in the education industry). But she gets passed over repeatedly for passion projects and piano gigs as she just cannot stand up for herself. Her Achilles heel is a craving for validation. Making things worse, her first husband (I'm #2) was very abusive, and she fled with no money. Between marriages if a guy gave her validating flattery she would fall for him for just that reason. Now she's going to a famous hotel with many somewhat older artists in residence and she has a very vulnerable person. Very. Easy to take advantage of.

About a week ago we had it out. A very frank discussion and I laid my cards out and insisted on a response. She tells me not to worry, but she also makes it clear that if a fellow artist wants to take her dinner or lunches, she's not going to say 'no' and tells me not to worry about it. After losing the love of my youth I have terrible trust anxiety issues.

So it's going to be a long week. She leaves tomorrow. I like to think she will be honest with me if she falls.