Originally Posted by
Linkmeister 
the good times come through, the loving, the laughter, the genuine happiness we shared. Those happened and to remember them is hard, harder than I ever thought it would be which made it harder to let go.
My story, like yours (and many others) could have been a lot different, but it's not and hard as it is to accept it and let it go, I have to see reality for what it is. Like you, I can't live with active addiction-it's too high a price to pay for my sanity and serenity. That's the bottom line for me.
I can
SO RELATE to your post how hard it was to remember the good times which make it harder to let go.
For the longest time I couldn't understand why and the other day my therapist shed some light on this.
He said that dysfunctional relationships are like old cars. You can spend alot of time and money on an old car: repair the dents, paint it, wax it, buff out the rust, clean the windows until they shine.....but if the engine is bad, if it is too expensive to fix or beyond repair, it will never fulfill your needs!
You are wasting your time and money, but it is so hard to stop, to say I've had enough, because you have invested so much already... it is too hard to walk away and accept that you are stuck with a lemon.
All of us who have seen our investment go down the drain and have chosen reality have lost a lemon but have gained back our sanity and serenity!
Bravo!