I asked my H to leave 3 weeks ago after catching him communicating with the OW on the internet. This is our 3rd separation in the last 6 months. He vowed he would give her up and also would cut down on his drinking. He did neither. I have filed for divorce. But I am so lonely. We had virtually no social life because he worked most evenings and weekends - we were best friends. Now I am all alone and he has her. The paperwork required by the lawyer (all the financial info, doing a budget, and getting all the documents) is really overwhelming. It's bad enough having the emotional trauma and then you have to do all this paperwork too. It's so unfair. He is sitting in a motel room now probably talking to the Internet woman. How long does it take for the pain to heal? My family is out of town and I generally talk with some of them every night. I feel devastated. I do see a counselor weekly which helps some. I just live one day at a time - I can't look into the future very far as it is too scary. We have been married almost 28 years - no children. <P>I reached the breaking point. I just couldn't take his cheating any more. <P>Thanks for listening.

I know what it is like to feel like your H is your whole family. After my divorce I felt like I lost everything that was important to me. I spent so much time trying to keep the relationship together that I didn't spend alot of time with friends and family. The first few months after the divorce were gruesome and terribly lonely.<P>It does get better. It took me about a year to really feel like I have friends I could love and trust. My family is closer than ever. If there is any way you can go see your family, please do that. Fortunately for me, my family was only a few hours away.