Thanks so much, guys. Really.
Originally Posted by
Florence 
This was one of the more hurtful things for me. My family took it semi-seriously, and kept pressuring me to stay with him and wait for a miracle, while his did not, and treated me like a jerk for calling attention to his problem and dealing with it straightforwardly instead of allowing them to live in their bubble of ignorance and denial like they want. (Who's bitter?!)
Yes, that's exactly how my parents are acting: They accept that sure, there's some kind of problem here, but it's not the end of the world, I should just carry on as usual, they will pray for me and surely God will fix this within a month or two. Seriously, I told my mom that I felt discouraged because I realized that even if he does decide to get serious treatment it could take years before he has his feet on solid ground, and she came back with "Oh, it might not take that long! If he goes to therapy he might be doing fine in a month or two." Sure he will.
And my dad, his advice was "Well, why don't you try talking to him? Tell him how you feel when he ignores you all night?" Thanks Dad. Because I sure haven't done that before...They just have NO CLUE. No clue how heartless and selfish an alcoholic's behaviour can be. How little he cares for how I feel! They think if I just be a nice wife, pray a lot, and have a good heart to heart talks, everything will be just fine in no time.
But then, they are the kind to hold their heads in the sand anyhow. When my baby sister told them she had been molested by my other sister's husband, they told her she was lying. They also rewrite history about what awesome, caring parents they were. So it's stupid of me to be surprised.
And then, as dandylion said, I denied this for years myself. I covered up for him, I made excuses for why he never went to family events, why he never got work done on the house, etc. So it's no wonder.
Thanks for helping me to keep things in perspective.
The person who told me she thought I was just making it up for an excuse to dump my husband though, is no longer my friend. The last thing I need in my life is one more person telling me what a scumbag I am. You know what I mean.