Relationship blues

I also wanted to say that your last comments really hit home hard! They shook me to really think about everything. In the past month, they have been lingering in the back of my mind and turning me towards positive direction. They were also the reason behind the courage that I found to talk honestly and firmly to #2, thank you for giving me the right advice. Tomorrow, #2 and I are going to talk about more in detail but I am not disagreeing with him. It will do him good and do me good too. I hope he chooses his family especially his son who loves and wants him at the end of the day.

I meant about the break with # 2

Dear Susan,
So I have an update for you. Well for #1, he is off getting married soon he said in a couple of months. We talked like friends. He still loves me but he prizes his commitment to the girl who was there after the breakup and our misunderstanding but its led to positive changes in his life. In either case, our union because of our differences would not have been taken well in our homes. So its a positive step and a major reason behind the decision I made, even though I got the lower end of the deal.
Secondly, it took some time and thinking and gathering of courage to discuss things honestly with #1 but I spelled out very honestly to him that I needed some time to think about everything because of two reasons a) his divorce was still not finalizing and she was still calling him b) he wanted me to be with him like as I was married to him and both of them especially after your advice and talking to my best friends it seemed like a futile relationship. He was not ready to put in any effort to make it work. I am okay with it though because after a long six years with #1 and the brief tumultuous relationship with #2, since 2007 when I had gotten out of another bad relationship, I actually feel relieved to be on my own and free to think and act and focus on my self. Its been a while. At first he was fine with it saying what I was expecting of him, and I said I needed two months more to think so that I don't regret my decision. But, he, being impatient as I know he is, for the past two days went into major depression and today, he fessed up using the 'guise of long distance relationships' that we should take a break. I didnt fight it and he said that we will discuss it more tomorrow as he had to go to work and he was sounding agitated.
Although I know what I did was for the right of everyone, I miss the close intimacy and friendship I had with #1 but it was never meant to be so these events took place but I am okay. I want someone like #1 but someone who is real and reachable and I am sure he exists somewhere maybe I haven't found him yet or he has been under my nose and I haven't realized it yet. But I am no rush. I have a year to apply for Phd programs and build my self. After the week of meltdown, I actually joined an afterschool program for kids so I am working part time while working on apps. I will also be probably offered a contract position in a company I interned for in the summer (which should give me enough savings to be financially indepedent once I am in a Phd Program) and I think everything will be allright. I am sure the guy is lurking somewhere as he has been for the past 25 years, maybe its about time I stop hunting for him and let him show him self up! Your advice truly has changed my life for the better and re-ignited my fire to empower others and survive life's unexpected challenges! Thank you so much!

Thank you for telling me honestly like what it was. I have been keeping his emotional baggage to myself so it becomes difficult for my closed ones to know the truth. My best friend has also advised the same. I just haven't the heart to break up with him. But I will tell him in a cordial and normal manner that I need some time off to think.
I have played a part in this too. I thought I could handle it and felt bad for him, but its much more than I can handle and I need to focus on myself.

Hi Susan,
Thank you! Yes, I know...My intuition has been saying the same thing. Yes, I know the irony of it all....Its always the wrong guys who detract me from my goals...This is the third/fourth time its happening. I will talk to him today about the break because it needs to be done. Its really dragging me down and I need to focus on better things in life.
I haven't taken the ownership in all this until now because I think I have been too scared to hurt him, but I think its better than me being depressed and unhappy the entire time.
Thank you so much!

Hi Susan,
Since you know the entire background of my story, I had a question. I am considering and am almost at a brink of either getting a break from (which is somehow happening coincidentally as #2 lives in Michigan) or breaking (up) from him. However, because I am currently stationed at home working on my thesis without any contact from my professors etc, I am having anxiety from that as well in the background thus I am afraid that I am not rushing into anything.
We haven't seen each other in almost a month. The last two times I have flown to Michigan. One time I was there for 4 days and it was right. Second time around, his roommate had changed locks on him and he had moved to my apartment. For two weeks that I was there, he was always complaining about the 2 hour drive and whenever he would come home, he would be too tired. The last day he had a meltdown as his ex had called him telling me that my actions were reminding him of her and that he wanted no one in his life. Tired from the drama, I had said okay lets end it. I had cried and then when he came back to sleep in my room. He was telling me that he was scared, tired, and wanted to be alone. I told him that I refused to be screwed over again and told him he had a year to fix things otherwise I was calling it off. While I was packing, he had also really hurt me by saying that the worst thing is that I live here. The remark came across as being ungrateful and hurtful.
In the morning, he was kind and sweet again and apologized but the fact that my parents were coming, he freaked out and almost left our apartment. That time when he left, I was embarrassed as my parents had just arrived but minutes later, he called back and came and helped me to vacant the apartment.
Things were fine, then in the beginning he had made plans for the long weekend to come to Boston. However, his car plans had come through so he didn't come. So then I said to him that its okay, this weekend means a lot to me becuase I will be reuniting with my undergraduate friends and they have been dying to meet you. Knowing that its three weeks and that he will get good flight deals, I had made sure that he will know of this early. However, the next two weeks he avoided the issue complaining again that he will have only a day and that he will not get enough time (etc.) which I know for a fact is not true. He was now making last minute plans and complained to me last night that the flight now costed more than $500 (which was not a surprise to me but I had nothing to say to him). He called again in the night but I had nothing to say to him.
I was really disappointed and heartbroken. He is willing to fly me to MI but I don't think its fair and I don't want to be in isolation with him becasue from past experiences, I have learned that if he is separating me from my friends and family, he won't care for me enough. Its really sad because I have made a lot of difference in his life. He always realizes what he coulda/shoulda done after the main time passes away.
I don't harbor any animosity towards him. I understand that he is at a different stage of his life and I am at another. I am only 25, I want to explore the world, I want to be with a guy who keeps life simple, is a good balance of the selfish/selfless (the past two have been I think in the other extremes). I want someone who enjoys the zest of life but is not living in isolation and values what I value. Even if something doesn't mean as much to me but if it does to him, I have always adjusted with not just him but with almost every guy I have been with. But it seems that none of them possess the key to fight for me or make things work (maybe because I invest a lot into them, so much so that people like my ex- who didn't have anyone at one point of time had me too spend time with him but when push came to shove, he rejected me point-blank claiming commitment etc) when I loved him so much I strained my relationship with my mom for him.
In the past 25 years, I have invested a lot in my relationships and never received anything back. I am tired of it. My goal is to one day become a professor of Indian litrature and women's studies literature from India to unearth the marginalized voices from the country and show their ability to create change in the world. Its what I have worked for. I just am amazed that despite putting in so much effort (which I think is important in any relationship, why can't I receive that back?) The last time he came, he drove 13 hours to see me but freaked out because he saw that I was close to my family and had to respect their wishes as well. I think thats what is turning him off from the trip even though now I have worked out a plan that would make him comfortable too. But I just wanted him to spend time and see my friends from undergraduate years, I only see them once a year and they have been with me since 2005. We go to this fair every year and I have always wanted to be with someone who enjoys the company of friends both his and mine.
What should I do? Should I end it now or wait a couple of months before things look better? I am his support but I think I will be better as his friend/confidant than his gf/wife. I don't know what to do.

After the confrontation/talk with #1, things have been cleared up and the confusion has been cleared now. I know where my feelings remain now. I still see some hope with #2 because as a couple minus baggage we do have a strong bond. I think for now, maybe for a couple of months more, I will see where our relationship leads. If not then, I will make a practical decision and end it. For now, I think I will be fine. I am ready to move on from #1 after realizing and accepting today for what it is and that I can never bring the past back. The decisions I had made permanently hurt him and changed him. He has every right to move on and so do I. I have dreams to pursue and changes to make. :) I will be fine! Thanks for being for me during the hardest time of my life!

Hi Susan,
I had a long talk with #1 today and realized that in the process of breaking up, I had made some assumptions that led to our permanent breakup. Because I had been intimate with #2, I figured #1 would never accept me back and thus I tried to move on. I did think of him while I was with #2, but I accepted #2 for everything as well. I do owe loyalty towards him and he is not a bad guy in any manner but he is also a sweetheart and does love me a lot. However, if things such as his divorce do not finalize, I will end the relationship. #1 and I have come to terms with the decision I made and we will honor our commitments. Now too, there is no use retrospecting about how we could have changed our relationship or made it different. Even if he loves me, he will never admit to it because of the commitment he has made with the other person and I respect it. Love is a strange thing, it makes you act funny, and when one miscommunication you make, it changes the lives of four people. I am the architect of all of these changes otherwise they would not have happened at all, but I was so hell bent on proving to him that if he doesnt change and come to the states, I will end it. I didn't think it will really help at all. But, whatever the case may be, since I rushed the first time around, I do not want to rush the second time around and feel the weight of guilt looming over me. So, for now, I will be with #2 but end it if certain things don't materialize.
Thanks so much

Hi Susan,
I have been thinking over our conversation and am beginning to see where I might be garnering a false feeling. I do really have feelings for him, but I think, I was trying to see #1 in #2 and no two people are alike. I tried really hard to too, but now I am beginning to see more and more differences that make him so much different than I had imagined him to be. I do care for him and love him for who he is, but I am not sure if I can love him in that way, yet? However, I am not going to rush on this feeling but rather I want to wait a couple of months till I am a 100% sure of it. Once I am, I will take the break to rethink the situation. Thanks so much!

Hi Susan,
You are right. In many ways and times, I have been denying the guilt and trying to move on but I do have to tell myself that after the decision was made, I could never recover from it.
When I am with him, I do love him in a man-and-woman sense, but when he is not around, I think less about #2 more about #1 especially now when I am alone...but whenever I talk to #2, all of these feelings just blank out (I dont know maybe I get distracted or block them out of my system as I have been trying to do since Feb). Your vibe is on the mark.
You do have a point about the break. You know in an ideal world, I had imagined that even I would have chosen #2, my # 1 would have made sure that I would not have let him go or gone from his life without a fight. But when even that didn't happen, I just wasn't sure if he really loved me or all was just talk that he had told me. I will take your advice soon. I think I will just have to choose the right time to for the break.
Thanks for talking to me about all of this, it is giving me a sense of direction. It's all nice to know that someone is able to look at this situation without bias.