Smack and Marriage Don’t Mix: The 4-Way

By: The 4-Way Panel (View Profile)

If you want to know where to go from here, I think it’s time for the full-disclosure-honesty route. If you seriously want her back, go to her with the truth and a plan. You sit her down and tell her what you’ve been doing and why the wedding was cancelled. Tell her you’re in treatment (and if you’re not, you need to get yourself there), prepare her for the hard road ahead, but tell her you love her and want her on that road with you, but don’t push her on the marriage issue. Give her information for local heroin-addict support groups. And don’t cringe at the word “addict”—your wedding is off because of your drug problem, so I think it’s appropriate.

But beware, J. If I were her, I’d be hard-pressed to take you back. By your own admission, you’ve already got two strikes, and if it were me, I’d be unwilling to gamble on the third. Still, if you truly love this woman you have to go after her and try to make it work—but you have to be ready to change and change for good, no looking back and no more lying. Get yourself in treatment. Good luck.

Read Part Three of the February 4-Way.

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Comments
posted: 05.20.2008
KT
Thank you for this article. I found it so refreshing to read the various perspectives on this issue as I also broke up with my fiance due to his substance abuse problem. He lied and hid from me too much for me to forgive & forget. When his family (thankfully) intervened it opened my eyes to the fact that this was a substantial problem that needed to be addressed. Since I called off the wedding, he has been seeing a counselor which I acknowledge is a positive first step step. When he talks to me about it, he says he can't wait to show me that he can get better and show me he can be moderate, which to me indicates that he is still in denial. I finally can appreciate the sentiment that once you find internal happiness, it will resonate with the people around you. So clean yourself up first and then focus on what's next.
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