Thought I'd do a little update, since it's been awhile and all of you got me through some pretty dark days. In the months leading up to Christmas, SS30 was doing his best Eddie Haskell routine (I'm aging myself here!). Like  ignore my texts and then tell DH he hadn't received them. DH has come a long way, but still wanted to believe that things were salvageable with SS (especially with SS planning a wedding). I couldn't stand the thought of going into 2024 with this dark cloud still hanging over my marriage. So I forced a confrontation with SS, and he showed his very ugly colours.

I was chopping an onion this afternoon, and my eyes started to water uncontrollably. DH offered to take over and I said "but then we'd both be crying". Then we looked at eachother and reaized that neither one of us has cried in over a month.That's a record since our blended family blew up in May 2022. I know there will still be bumps, and I know DH still has a lot of processing to do in terms of his family, but our current state of detachment from his family is pure bliss. 

Those who have followed along so far will remember that DH's ex sent the police to our house for a wellness check, after he didn't attend SS's engagement party. Since then, we've obtained a copy of the police report and confirmed that she out right lied to the police.

It's been 2 weeks since the dreaded engagement party and life has been gloriously peaceful. The future exDIL reached out to DH and asked him to make nice with SS. So DH texted him and reiterated that missing his engagement party wasn't an easy decision. SS responded by saying that he didn't want to talk about it because he didn't want to say something he would regret (that's a first) but did say "I'm very angry at you and your wife". It's always an interesting sign when I lose my name and become "the wife". But whatever. DH didn't respond and there's been no further communication.