Linda

Well, my question for you is, can my marriage survive with our differences feeling insurmountable?

Well, my question for you is, can my marriage survive with our differences feeling insurmountable?

Well, my question for you is, can my marriage survive with our differences feeling insurmountable?

Yeah, I wrote some bullet points. Okay, go for it. Okay, cool. I've been married for 31 years. We've always been each other's yin and yang. There's an eight-year difference in age. He's late 60s. I'm early 60s. He began transitioning to retirement four years ago. He's a self-employed contractor. I retired two years ago. He was fully retired by then with occasional small jobs.

Yeah, I wrote some bullet points. Okay, go for it. Okay, cool. I've been married for 31 years. We've always been each other's yin and yang. There's an eight-year difference in age. He's late 60s. I'm early 60s. He began transitioning to retirement four years ago. He's a self-employed contractor. I retired two years ago. He was fully retired by then with occasional small jobs.

Yeah, I wrote some bullet points. Okay, go for it. Okay, cool. I've been married for 31 years. We've always been each other's yin and yang. There's an eight-year difference in age. He's late 60s. I'm early 60s. He began transitioning to retirement four years ago. He's a self-employed contractor. I retired two years ago. He was fully retired by then with occasional small jobs.

Our opposites are getting harder and harder to accept in each other. Expressing feelings are difficult for him except negativity. I rarely hear I'm sorry from him voluntarily. I'm very verbal. I see the positive in things. And this all came to a head recently. I think it's because in September I decided I was going to start communicating with him in the same way he speaks to me.

Our opposites are getting harder and harder to accept in each other. Expressing feelings are difficult for him except negativity. I rarely hear I'm sorry from him voluntarily. I'm very verbal. I see the positive in things. And this all came to a head recently. I think it's because in September I decided I was going to start communicating with him in the same way he speaks to me.

Our opposites are getting harder and harder to accept in each other. Expressing feelings are difficult for him except negativity. I rarely hear I'm sorry from him voluntarily. I'm very verbal. I see the positive in things. And this all came to a head recently. I think it's because in September I decided I was going to start communicating with him in the same way he speaks to me.

He got mad at me and yelled how unhappy he was and wanted to get into marriage counseling but only recently followed through to make the phone call. We do have a screening appointment in a couple of days. I've been through therapy on and off through the years. I'm in individual counseling right now. I started about a month ago. He says I'm a teller, not an asker, and that I control everything.

He got mad at me and yelled how unhappy he was and wanted to get into marriage counseling but only recently followed through to make the phone call. We do have a screening appointment in a couple of days. I've been through therapy on and off through the years. I'm in individual counseling right now. I started about a month ago. He says I'm a teller, not an asker, and that I control everything.

He got mad at me and yelled how unhappy he was and wanted to get into marriage counseling but only recently followed through to make the phone call. We do have a screening appointment in a couple of days. I've been through therapy on and off through the years. I'm in individual counseling right now. I started about a month ago. He says I'm a teller, not an asker, and that I control everything.

He says he can't talk to me. I say he doesn't treat me with kindness when speaking to me. I'm tired of the negativity, so I ignore him a lot. Seems the happier I am in retirement, the grumpier he has become. I say he drinks and smokes too much, and I have zero tolerance for it anymore.

He says he can't talk to me. I say he doesn't treat me with kindness when speaking to me. I'm tired of the negativity, so I ignore him a lot. Seems the happier I am in retirement, the grumpier he has become. I say he drinks and smokes too much, and I have zero tolerance for it anymore.

He says he can't talk to me. I say he doesn't treat me with kindness when speaking to me. I'm tired of the negativity, so I ignore him a lot. Seems the happier I am in retirement, the grumpier he has become. I say he drinks and smokes too much, and I have zero tolerance for it anymore.

We made a deal that he would sleep in the guest room when he was under the influence, which he has adhered to, and he has cut back significantly in the last month. I asked him to move into the guest room permanently on Thanksgiving because he hadn't made the phone call to get us into counseling.

We made a deal that he would sleep in the guest room when he was under the influence, which he has adhered to, and he has cut back significantly in the last month. I asked him to move into the guest room permanently on Thanksgiving because he hadn't made the phone call to get us into counseling.

We made a deal that he would sleep in the guest room when he was under the influence, which he has adhered to, and he has cut back significantly in the last month. I asked him to move into the guest room permanently on Thanksgiving because he hadn't made the phone call to get us into counseling.

I want to remain in separate bedrooms until we are in counseling and want to work with a counselor before we go back to sleeping in the same room. So, Dr. John, is our marriage salvageable? And is this a common situation in older-slash-long-term marriages? Yeah.

I want to remain in separate bedrooms until we are in counseling and want to work with a counselor before we go back to sleeping in the same room. So, Dr. John, is our marriage salvageable? And is this a common situation in older-slash-long-term marriages? Yeah.