CAN THIS MARRIAGE BE SAVED?
Ladies Home Journal On-Line
MIKE'S TURN, Part Three:
“I know it wasn’t easy for Elena to move. But I’ve told her, ‘Anytime you want to visit your mother, you have wings. Fly down. Or call whenever you want.’ Instead of doing that, she turns reality inside out.
Take this business with my friends. Those guys have loved her from day one and have always treated her fine. But, like I said, Elena misinterprets many things. If I go to a ball game, she thinks my friends are stealing me from her. No one puts her down, either. She puts herself down.
I’m tired of hearing about how awful things are for her. I try to set up getaway weekends, but either she doesn’t like the people we’re going with or she doesn’t want to drive two hours to get there. Then she says she wants to get to know the city but she’s not giving New York a chance. If I say, ‘Hey, let’s go to a Knicks game and feel the electricity of nineteen thousand people screaming at the top of their lungs,’ she’ll say no. I have a million examples like that.
Elena has changed so much. I fell in love with a sweet, sexy lady who seemed up for anything. Now, I’m living with someone who does nothing but scream and bitch. She likes to give marching orders: ‘Take out the garbage! Wash the dishes!’ The reason I don’t clean as much as she does is because we have a totally different idea of what’s acceptable when it comes to keeping house. She’s a neatness fanatic. As far as I’m concerned, if the bed isn’t made, so what? Who’s going to see? We’re just going to sleep in it at night, so what’s the big deal?
Worse than her bitching, though, are her silent treatments—three, maybe four days in a row without a word. I can’t stand that; I’m an up-front kind of guy. But when Elena’s mad, she refuses to talk. And then the next thing you know she’s ready to blow up. Like last week at the racetrack. I was having such a good time that night. If I was getting too loud, she could have said, ‘Mike, mellow out.’ Instead, she screams like a banshee in front of all my friends.
I’m here, in therapy, for one reason: Because I’m a team player. But in my opinion, the problem is ninety percent Elena’s.”
Elena's Turn, Part Two
Elena's Turn, Part Three
Mike's Turn, Part One
Mike's Turn, Part Two
Mike's Turn, Part Three
