How to Leave a Crazy Marriage Without Feeling Guilty

How to Leave a Crazy Marriage Without Feeling Guilty

I wrote a book about it. "Defection at 60, I left dinner on the stove and ran away from home" is the story of my life. It tells of the struggles of a young girl growing up in a man's world. Re-inventing myself several times over a period of 80 years, I learned to overcome the idiocy of Male Chauvinism, that unreasonable arbitration that so many women put up with.

I am offering this beautiful book for the reduced price of $20.00 along with FREE shipping. (Amazon.com has it listed at $29.95.) I will personalize and ship the book. Please give the name you want in my personal autograph "to you" plus your name, address and zip code.

Excerpt from the book:

“Shut up and eat your supper.” The words bounced lightly from my lips as I blurted my newly-learned assertiveness at my husband.

The old tyrant had just spit another one of his gripes over my cooking. I was leaving the table to fill another serving bowl of my delicious cuisine. When he started in with his incessant complaining, I told him quietly, matter-of-factly, without anger—to shut up.

His shock was apparent; he turned his head, stared at nothing for a moment, then put his head down and began to eat.

Oh, my gosh! He really did shut up! I thought, excitedly.

For nine long months, I had attended an assertiveness training class under a psychiatrist’s orders. After fourteen years of t

his crazy marriage, with vague hopes of solving the mystery of its failures, I had visited a Family Counseling Center in Pinellas County, Florida – free. But with a long line of poor families waiting for assistance, my assertiveness counselor had threatened to expel me from the class. One of my classmates, Debra White, a very articulate radio speaker, took assertive courage and remarked, “Adora, you can’t do your grocery shopping on a vacuum cleaner!”

Debbie had been listening to my misadventure with my husband and the unwanted purchase of a Rainbow vacuum cleaner.

The salesman had presented the contraption to us as an air purifier. Cougar was a heavy smoker who constantly complained about the air and always huffed and puffed when the Florida humidity aggravated his smoky old lungs. So his excitement and hyper jabber accelerated until I had to leave the room.

“Adora!” he expulted, “It’s an air purifier! It’ll make the air better in here! We’ll be able to breathe easier! We’ll…”

The two men tried and tried to get me to sign for a payment contract. I wasn’t even working. What did they want with my signature? I was a non-smoker so I found it hard to understand his poor lung capacity. It would’ve been cheaper for him to quit smoking. Doubly cheaper. He’d save by not buying cigarettes and by forgetting about buying a very expensive appliance.

I went to bed.

At eleven-thirty that night, Cougar entered the bedroom and wakened me. “The man is still waiting for your signature, Baby!” He always called me Baby when he wanted something from me.

I caved in. I signed the paper.

In my next assertiveness class, I announced my failure to say no to the persuasive salesman and to my husband. I had held out a long time. Classmates rattled my cage from all sides. Well, it felt like a cage. That was when Debra made her remark. She clamped both hands over her mouth.

“Don’t do that, Debra!” I said quickly. “You speak your mind, say what you think! Don’t ever hold back.” I might have taken the same advice.