I know the title sounds very confusing but frankly that's the actual situation.
Last November my wife of 30 years wanted to talk. She explained that she had no sex drive left at all and doesn't even feel the need to touch or be touched at all. Our bedroom has been close to dead for over a decade so the sex part did not bother me extremely. The no touch part did though. For her it means no cuddles, no kisses, not even a peck, no holding hands, nothing.
What she offered was basicaly us being very good friends, enjoying our family life and doing lots of fun activities. Our adult children drop by several times a week and we own a house that for both of us is the ultimate home. We share most interests and usualy have a great time when we're out and about. And make no mistake, we do an insane amount of fun activities.
What she basically demanded in return (?) is mutual monogamy and a continuation of our current financial agreements. Meaning i pay for 80% of all costs and expenses (i earn 80% of our combined income) and have to forsake sex.
I decided to give it a go, reluctantly but nevertheless. My wife kept our family going and never left my side when i went through a life threathening disease 10 years ago The entire proces cost her at least 5 years of her life and is the cause of the close to dead bedroom. My words, not hers, so in my book, i owe her.
When i take a step back, i know that for me this is a shitty deal. If i divorce i can use my income to built me a new life, hopefully find a new love and easily live another 20 happy years. If i stay i basically fund her current lifestyle, one she never can afford on her own.
The issue is, she keeps pushing and pushing. Pushing in the form of spending more and more on fun activities, meaning i also pay for her days away with her friend. But also pushing in the form of me never doing enough, quantity and quality wise. No matter how hard i work and how much i do in and around the house, it's never good enough. And trust me, i do way more than my fair share of all that comes with running a household.
I don't understand it. I made it again clear that i very reluctantly want to give her idea of our future life a go but that i don't like the idea of basically being an ATM. That she "offered" to take any form of intimacy of the table and "demand" me to pay for that with no romantic love ever again and no financial freedom. She has no answer when i ask her why she now keeps pushing, for her those are seperate issues.
I can use some other perspectives. What do i not understand here? What did i miss? Why can't she see she offered me a shit deal and that her endless pushing makes me slowly starting to regret accepting that deal? I'm trying to find a motive or plan or whatever rationality behind her actions.