My (40M) wife (38F) and I have been married for more than 20 years (yes, we married VERY young) and have five kids together ranging from 6-20. I was recently told by my job (military) that I have to move to another base. Initially, this was met with the usual level of “don’t want to move but it’s part of the deal” response but then something changed. A few weeks ago, my wife told me that she actually hadn’t felt much of anything toward me since around the end of last year and was considering just staying in the city we currently live in while I moved on. She swears that there isn’t anyone else in the picture, that she just wants to be alone. Since then, she has told me that she’ll be moving with me after all, but is totally unwilling to discuss her feelings regarding me or the marriage. About a week ago, she told me that she just needs space to process everything. I’m trying to honor that but where I’m hurting here is that between the job and all the kids, my family and my fitness are pretty much all I have outside of work. I do my job, exercise, and do my best to be hubby and dad. She now seems content to see me as little as necessary each day, happy to fill her time with friends, work, and her books. I know I should have my own social circle to fall back on but I’ve never been willing to bail out on my family or responsibilities to cultivate those relationships. Should I be doing something different here or just keep doing all I can to stay out of the way and let her process as we prepare to move? Thanks in advance.

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