Like lillamy, I knew it was time long before I actually left. And similar to Mike, my desire to be free was finally stronger than my willingness to accept a future full of potential craziness (i.e. pain). I had finally accepted that everything I had learned here and in Al-Anon about alcoholism and my alcoholic's behaviors would always be a part of who he was. Always. Forever. That's a long time.
Not one other human soul is responsible for my happiness. Happiness is a choice. I can still love him, and do, but from a distance. I pray for him every day. He is a man with an illness. I love him, I just hate the disease. And now I can love him and have my serenity at the same time.