I miss my DiL

Get in touch. Most divorced women feel that their in-laws blame them for the split. Let her know that you don't blame her for the divorce, that you miss her and hope you still can be friends.

Don't know how long it's been but she may be still hurting and just as you miss her she may miss the family she once had so much that she is unable to meet you just now. Give it time, send cards etc and one day when she has healed enough she may agree to meet you.

I have often thought about this one after what happened to a friend of mine. She has three sons all of whom cheated on their wives. She at the time had seven grandchildren (only the younger son had no children,)

She loved her daughter-in-laws( after all two of them were the mothers of her grandchildren) but she was banned from seeing them by her sons! Her sons kind of work from home - offices etc in the grounds of Mum's house. They are there five days a week.

She used to meet the DILs in secret for lunch and the like. So she had to sneak round. When one of her DILs remarried she was invited to t he Wedding- again she was banned from going. Go to the Wedding and we will have nothing more to do with you! She just went to watch the Wedding. We tell her that they are bullies but she says they are good to me and look after me (her husband was killed in an accident over twenty years ago.)

Two of her sons sons have grandchildren now and one of them even tried to ban his ex wife from his grandson's christening! Fortunately, his son stood up for his Mum

Yes I love my DIl and she is the mother of my grandchildren and if anything ever happened in their marriage I would hope that we could still have a relationship.

So please keep in touch with her.

When my ex cheated on me, my ex mil and sil cut me and our children out of their lives. We were devastated my sil had been more like a sister to me. My ex fil visited us on a few occasions till mil found out! When my ex eventually came to take the kids our he took them to visit his parents and she had cut me out of all the pictures, so as not to offend his new partner! I now have a lovely mil, so really glad he was caught cheating!

Yes, my son and his wife parted about ten years ago. My daughter in law has a very busy job with plenty of overseas travel. I was SO close to my grandson who is now 17. I am in (very friendly) communication with my daughter in law and occasionally see my grandson but we have definitely grown apart. Sometimes I am so sad and also look back on happier times but I do accept that I am not in control of the situation there is no bad feeling but they just have such busy lives whereas I now live alone since my husband died and I retired. I work hard to make sure my life is fulfilling too and welcome any contact with them.

I have an absolutely amazing relationship with my sons ex partner, the mother of his children. I would do anything to help her and vice versa, just because her and my son aren't together anymore doesn't mean the end of my relationship with her and my DGC! It was especially funny when I took her and the children and her new partner on holiday...!! We are so close, everyone thought she was my daughter! I'm truly blessed to have her.

I'm in a similar situation, except that my son did nothing wrong; it's my dil who has chosen to end the marriage.
So I've got to stay loyal to my son who is devastated, and I will always support him.
But I do miss the 30 years of friendship with her.
It's almost like a bereavement. She was lovely. We are being civil, but I can't really be friends with her any more, can I. It would hurt my son.

I still kept in touch with my ex MIL until her death and it gave me some satisfaction to know that she didn't like either of the two other partners my ex husband moved on to!

I guess it's understandable that she wants to turn away from her ex's life completely, perhaps cut all ties, especially as the children are now adults and she can leave it up to them as to whether they contact you or not. It's not your fault. It's just a sad fact. There may be nothing to be done about it. She was badly hurt and she has to look to her future now.

I am so sorry for you.

It is lovely to hear that you love your DIL enough to miss her! There are so many woesome tales on here about folk who do not get on with their AC's partners.

But I am sorry that your son let her down - you must feel he has let you down too by his actions, as well as missing your DIL. What a sorry situation for you to have to deal with.

Someone up thread said that perhaps you might just get in touch and tell her you miss her and enjoyed her company. Perhaps you can meet up now and again. Your warm feelings are likely to be mutual. Do not worry about your son's thoughts on this - if he has teenage children then he is sufficiently grown to understand that he cannot dictate what others feel.

Good luck with this.

I'm glad to read you're in contact - you are now just two women who like one another and I really hope your relationship continues to flourish.

BabyLayla, I'm sorry about what ds did and about his divorce. Good that you're still in touch with dil though. Being friendly with an xdil is wonderful, Imo, if ds doesn't mind. And I don't see why he should since it seems he's the one who betrayed her, not vice versa. In some cases, I know, when dil finds a new man/dh she begins to pull away from her xils for obvious reasons. But, in other cases, they manage to stay very friendly.

Mossfar and OurKid1, I feel for you, also. Imo, your situations are somewhat different than the op's because your in your stories, it was ds who was betrayed. I totally get why you're angry at xdil, Mossfar, and applaud you for managing to stay civil. OurKid, are you sure ds doesn't feel hurt by your continued relationship with the woman who cheated on him? If he isn't, that's great! Glad he seems happier, too.

Bopeep, once again, I'm sorry your son went nc. But glad to see there is a silver lining, the renewed relationship with xdil.

I have a friend who is in close contact with her ex SIL. She even became friends with his new wife and despite that marriage also failing she keeps in touch with wife number two .

I've had a similar situation, except that it was my DIL who had the affair. I loved her (I have two sons, so it was lovely to have a 'daughter') and always will. We are still in touch, meet up occasionally to have lunch, a shopping trip and a chat. She knows that if push came to shove I would side with my son, but I haven't been put in that position, luckily, especially as I can see both sides.

Having said that, and although I am sorry their marriage ended, my son is much more relaxed and happier than he has been for a while. Mixed feelings then, but, yes, I do understand how you feel.

Sounds like you're doing the best you can. Well done!
I got very attached to my DS's first serious gf, as did his sister. She was lovely.
It was hard when they split and I wanted to remain friends but it was obvious my DS didn't, so we just had to stop all contact.

I too loved my DIL very much - until she decided to have an affair and messed with my sons mind so badly that she drove him to the point of suicide. He had a complete breakdown and ended up in a psychiatric hospital. She walked out with their two boys when he was absolutely at rock bottom and carries on as though she's done nothing wrong. I can't stand her now but have to continue to speak and be civil to her or we would never get to speak to our beloved grandsons.

In your position I would definitely contact your DIL, you (and she) have done nothing wrong and it can only be good for your Grandchildren.

BabyLayla That's lovely news.

When I split up from and consequently divorced my ExH, my MIL was my rock. Our relationship never altered and I truly loved her for it.
Contact your DIL, meet up, hug, tell her you miss her and still want to be part of her her life.

It’s great that you are in contact. It’s so hard to find a moment in all of the chaos. But you’ve done great to keep the lines of communication open and I’m sure that when she can she will meet up.
It’s wonderful that you embraced the relationship you had and didn’t let any bias cloud your judgement. You DIL and GC are really lucky to have you.

Thankyou all for replies.
I am in touch with her & have offered lunches, coffee etc I don’t think there is any problem other than she is so busy with work, GC and animals and now GC no longer need looking after, it’s months since I saw any of them.
Hopefully with the better weather and lighter evenings.

I am sorry. She’s been a close member of your family for 14 years I’m not surprised you’re feeling so low
Your son is the one at fault and he has no say over yours and hers relationship. Are you able to reach out to her and invite her for dinner or to meet up for a coffee?

I’ve never been in her position but on MN a lot of women in her position do post and speak of the sadness of losing wonderful ILs. It could be that she’s also missing you.

I missed my ex daughter in law to be, they never got married but were together 15 years.
Like everyone else says there is no reason for you not to still have contact with her, unless it would cause problems between you and your son.
We cut ties with ours by request of our son, it broke my heart, but we did it for him, but since he has gone NC we have since reconnected and its wonderful. She was and always will be part of the family.

Our neighbour was divorced from her unfaithful husband. When he came to collect his children there would often be 'words' on the doorstep and he was not allowed to come into the house. His mother continued to help with the four children and if she answers the door when he collects the children, she does not allow him in either!

I still have a good relationship with ex DiL after many years.
I am "Nana" to the children she has had in her current relationship.
Life is really too short.

It's miserable isn't it, when life gets in the way of a good relationship?
Is there any reason you cant get in touch with her?
As others have said she might be missing you as well!