Effing Alcoholism
I traded some Facebook messages last week with an old college friend, who has been blissfully married to a woman he adores for about 15 years. They have one son, who is 12 or 13, I think. This particular friend has some passing familiarity of my situation with STBXAH, although we hadn't talked since I moved out. He was glad to hear that the kids and I are all doing so well.
Then he dropped his own bomb. His wife, both of whose parents were alcoholics, has descended into alcoholism. Apparently for years she had maybe one drink a month, but six months ago, things got crazy. She has a VERY demanding executive (i.e., non-lawyer) job at one of the world's biggest law firms. He seems to have a relatively well-adjusted outlook on the whole thing, but man. My heart just breaks for all of them. Keep them in all in your thoughts, if you wouldn't mind?