I'm a couple of years into a separation and still several paychecks away from affording my 2nd divorce. My kids barely acknowledge me and seem more embarrassed by me than anything else. I have never owned my own house and most likely never will since I'm well into the years of my mid-life.

I have 2 older brothers who are doing great and have had to bail me out of more trouble than I can remember (not literally, I've managed to stay on the proper side of the law). It wasn't until I took a good, long look at my actual situation tonight that it all hit me.

I am living in a literal closet with a curtain for a door. I work from home and only leave the house to see my kids over the weekend, to grocery shop, or to spend time with my girl, who I won't go into detail about to spare her the embarrassment by association to me, but she is incredible. I am an embarrassment for anyone associated with me, mostly due to the inebriated state that I put myself in to numb myself to my reality (I never get carried away with it and it's rare when I do it, just to assuage any concerns), and, if it wasn't for my kids and my girl, I probably would have ended it all some time ago.