Couple’s marriage is chilly following election
DEAR ABBY: I’m at a loss as to how to stay in my 21-year marriage. In August, when our twin daughters leave for college, my wife and I will become empty nesters. We haven’t had sex in more than 2 1/2 years, and before that it didn’t happen more than a couple of times a year.
My wife says she “doesn’t feel a connection with me anymore.” We have seen a counselor a couple of times over the last 12 years, but the most he has to offer now is that I will have to decide whether or not to accept this as my new normal. We are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, and I suspect that may have something to do with her sense of disconnect. The little affection progress we were making died the night of the presidential election. I hate the notion of divorce, both for what it would mean spiritually and for what it would do to our families and friends. Can you help? — IS THIS MY NEW NORMAL?
DEAR “IS”: Couples on opposite sides of the political spectrum can still have successful marriages IF they respect their mates and can discuss their differences intelligently and calmly. However, you state that your sex life has been the way it is for years — which makes me wonder whether the chemistry was strong to begin with.
I do think you and your wife are overdue for a series of honest conversations, and the first should start with whether the difference in your political beliefs has affected the way she feels about you.
The next should start with asking her whether she was ever satisfied in the bedroom with you. If you can get her to talk about it, you may be able to find out where the two of you went off track and fix it. However, if you can’t, then your counselor was correct.