Success stories.  Let's hear them.  Brink of divorce, defcon five.  Lawyers involved.  Papers served.  Shit hit the fan.  And now you are happy again.....  Has this happened to anyone here?  Have you avoided divorce?  Have you evaded alimony?  Kept the  family together?  Not just for show but for real?

Damn, man.  You?

I wouldn't say I've made it yet.  I'm pretty much smack middle of the shitstorm.

Me and my wife seperated for a year, papers were served and the divorce had started, then we found out the issues of her leaving was becuase of her mother telling lies and we resolved our issues. Thats been almost 3 years and we are happier and stronger now than before. We were married for 10 years before the split and have 2 kids. Hang in there it can work itself out sometimes.

I am a jackass.  Let's start with that. Some years ago; I got tired of her shit (lack of sex and all the usual married crap) and hooked up with someone else on the side.  Well; I wasn't playing her co-dependent game so she filed and got me kicked out of the house.  The impending "D" scared the shit out of me and the other girl had some commitment issues, so I wormed my way back into the 'ol lady's heart.  Persuading her over to my apartment and banging her brains out was a good start.  Getting invited to the house and bringing groceries to stock the depleted fridge was another good move. After a while, she saw the light and dropped the divorce action.  The honeymoon lasted a whole month, LOL.  We're still together, if you can call it that.

My story is long.... and I'll avoid the details for now.  I've been there.  Twice.  Got the paperwork to prove it.  But it can be done.  Today I am thankful I've managed to pull things together, and more than once.  

Part of me likes to think that due to a post reply I read in a thread I started about this a long time ago, I became very bothered by a statement.  So much so that it helped me change my course of action.  While everyone else was telling me to eject,  this person deeply affected my mindset being what seemed to be the sole dissenting opinion.  I hated them at the time but they were right.  Just celebrated thanksgiving in our new home, together and happy.  We fight about dumb shit.  We do it frequently.  But we both know in the end that regardless of the outcome we are still going to be happy together.

The vows mean something.  You might really need some time apart, but it doesn't always mean its over.