An assault from my wife's father on her culminating in physical therapy for the next month led her to decide to finally cut him out of her life.
But then her mom begged her not to, and even though we know it's the best thing for my wife, it's really hard to just brush away someone who's begging. What her mother doesn't get is this isn't about this one time--it's the last straw from over 25 years of abuse.
To top if off, her father sent her an email on an unrelated issue. I asked if my wife wanted me to screen it and just paraphrase the info, which she did. Pretty much two pieces of advice in the middle of several sentences of insults. He is so out of touch with the concept that the people around him have lives and feelings apart from him. It is beyond him to ever acknowledge wrongdoing on his part and I think that's really why she wants to be done. He refuses to get help, refuses to stop drinking, refuses to respect her as a person. There is no purpose for him in her life.
And I know seeded under this, why it's so hard for her to stop it, is because she wants there to be a positive change, she wants acknowledgment of her autonomy and her feelings. It's easy for me to say "stop caring what they think" when I know that's what's chaining her, because it's easy for me to not care what someone thinks, but this is something she's never gotten from him and never will. He cannot see a world beyond himself.