Affair with High School Sweetheart
Hi Everyone--Here goes my question-I have been married for 10 years. I have 3 children 16, 9 and 7. I am 35, my husband is 41. Three years ago my husband and I were going through a rough time and instead of working things out, he filed for divorce. I did not sign the papers, (because I did not want to toss out our marriage without trying to work things out.) and we eventually after 1 month of separation, got back together. It has still been a rocky road. The main issue is that he does not allow me to have any friends, and I do not like the fact that he does not participate in any part of his children's lives.
Here is the Background: (This all happened after the divorce filing) I was doing some repairs on the house and ran into my high school sweetheart at the store. We had not seen each other since graduation 14 years ago. We broke up in high school because he went into the Marines. We never had any hard feelings toward one another when we separated in high school. He is 36 and has a girlfriend that he has been dating for 5 years (2yrs. At the time we ran into each other.) He has been married twice and has 2 children ( one from each marriage) that live out of state. We talked at little at the store and realized that he only lives two blocks down the street from me with his girlfriend.
Here is the Issue: Since we ran into each other 3 years ago, we have been seeing each other, it started maybe a couple times a month, and now it has progressed. We get along great, we have everything in common. He is always saying how we should never have left each other out of high school and things would have been a lot different for both of us. We enjoy each other's company, and we make each other laugh.
The best part about it is, He is fantastic with my children, and my children just love him. He shows them the affection that they crave from their real father.
The problem is: He is having issues with his girlfriend and I am also having issues with my husband. We talked about getting a house together, but I think it is a financial issue for both of us that we are staying with our partners. He has also said that he does care about his girlfriend, and I also care about my husband. But we also care a lot about each other. It is really special for both of us when we are together, and we get a lot out each other that we do not get from our partners.
What should I do? I don't know how long I can continue this, because it is feelings overload. Any suggestions?