Has anyone ever "take a break" from a relationship and then later ended the break and lived happily ever after?

Wow. Thanks for all the responses. I didn't think this ever worked.

I guess I could see it working most often when the break is due to life circumstances like moving far away for work or school, then reconnecting down the line. Having a lot of bad dating experiences can help a person realize how good they had it also (speaking from experience).

My sister-in-law and her husband split when school ended. They later re-united and next year will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

poooopy wrote:

My buddy did this and has been married for 10+ years. Most would say he is happily married, but his wife f*cked another dude while they were on their break and he has resented her ever since. She doesn't know it, but he hates her guts and is only staying for the kids.

THEY WERE ON A BREAK!

Jimmy 600 wrote:

Seems to me like "taking a break" is always just delaying the inevitable. Has it ever actually worked for anyone here? By worked I mean you two took a break, figured some things out, then got back together and had a good relationship?

Not sure if you're talking about marriage or dating relationship. I was married for 20yrs before we got a divorce. We had our ups and downs prior to and during marriage. I always thought if we separated first, maybe our marriage could have lasted or not.

Looking back now, it was probably for the best I'm much happier and content. I'm sure he is too since he's already found someone or maybe they were dating before and that's why our marriage ended. I'm not bitter or regretful. I'm cordial and respectful to him since we have kids together. No chance of us ever getting back together even if he asked.

Since my divorce, I've only dated one other guy. We got along really well and connected but I think timing was not right. If it's meant to be then it will but if not I'm just allowing myself to be open for the right opportunity to come along for someone to capture my heart even if it takes years..:)

I know now what I want in a relationship--I'm not going to settle for less than what I am worth.

My brother's girlfriend broke the relationship off with him for 6 years.

My brother started to date another girl.

Then the original girlfriend got back with him. They have been married 30+ years and had two kids. My brother also makes about $100,000 per year and his wife works as a nurse. Not in NYC but in the Midwest. (OHIO is not the Midwest.)

Anonymous by choice again wrote:

My brother's girlfriend broke the relationship off with him for 6 years.

My brother started to date another girl.

Then the original girlfriend got back with him. They have been married 30+ years and had two kids. My brother also makes about $100,000 per year and his wife works as a nurse. Not in NYC but in the Midwest. (OHIO is not the Midwest.)

Nice completely unrelated salary drop.

Anyway, worked for me. We took a break for about 3 months (her choice). She realized what a mistake it was (and I confirmed I wanted to be with her after having comically bad flings with other girls in between) and we've been together for 10 years since. Still joke with her about what a bad decision it was for her, but deep down, I know we wouldn't have worked if she didn't take that break.

adsfasdfasdf wrote:

Yup. We tried to do long distance while I was at school, I developed feelings for one of the XC girls, broke up with my GF, dated XC girl, realized I made a mistake and then convinced the ex-GF to date me again. Ended up getting married. It's been about 5 years, and life is good.

I learned a lot about myself and what I wanted in life in that time period. It would be nice to have spared my wife the pain of the break-up and just stayed together, but the things I learned through that experience have made me a better partner.

Just think of all those guys she banged during your time off. Sucker.

To the OP. My wife and I took a "break" (more like she wasn't sure she wanted to be with me or not) for two months within our first year of marriage. Not sure if a two month break is "taking a break" or not. But she headed off with another guy for those two months (I had just been accused of a felony) and we got back together during the third month. Felony charges dismissed and we have been married (80% happy, 20% not happy which is better than any of my friends can say) for 10 years this past summer.

It hurt bad knowing she was with another guy and honestly I would never recommend a separation as that usually means she and you will be with others during that time but we made it through it. That said... I probably made it through it only because she is 14 years younger than I am and smoking hot. Any chick my age and I would have divorced her immediately for pulling that kind of shxt. You either want to be with me or not. But... she is a dime so she gets away with anything she wants and I'm pretty damn happy to just have one more night with her.

I took a break from fap ping, it did wonders. So in the same way taking a relationship break could refresh the physical desires. Assuming the groundwork of attraction is still there. Absence makes the hart grow fonder.

Sometime I take a break from eating my favorite foods. It taste richer when I start again.

H. Harvey wrote:

Just think of all those guys she banged during your time off. Sucker.

What an incredibly juvenile, childish conclusion you got from that.

I have. I seriously dated a girl for a few months. Things were going well until she got the impression that she needed to move away from the area (CA). I was pretty upset about it for awhile, but moved on with my life. I deleted her number out of my cell phone contacts and had fun dating other women. Seven months later, out of the blue, she calls me up to see how I'm doing. She told me she was teaching in Phoenix, which was where I was scheduled to have a layover on a flight to UT. We ended up meeting up for 5-10 minutes during the layover on my flight by to CA and got back together. We dated for eight months

before getting married. We've been happily together for few years and now have a little boy. Skimming some of the comments, people seem to be responding cynically. I am example, however unusual or rare it may seem, that such can and does happen.

Broke up for a while (my choice). Dated some other girls who were basically all crazy and emotionally unstable. Ran into my now wife and asked if we could go out again. Now 15 years married with kids. I realize that what I thought was exciting was often crazy and nerve wracking. What I had thought was less exciting was stable and sustainable. My wife is a great wife/partner and an even better mother. Don't know how I could be happier.

I am going to get married.

But I could as well marry a girlfriend from twenty years go.

Because I have matured.

Went with a girl senior year in college. Very happy, fabulous few months. Then I went East to grad school and didn't see her again for 40 years. Didn't know where she was. Never stopped thinking about her, though. I married 3 times, she married twice. We found each other at a college reunion, immediately fell back in love. Thirteen years together now. Should make it to the end.

If there's a competition for longest break, I think I win.

poooopy wrote:

My buddy did this and has been married for 10+ years. Most would say he is happily married, but his wife f*cked another dude while they were on their break and he has resented her ever since. She doesn't know it, but he hates her guts and is only staying for the kids.

Nice gift for kids to live with a father who is too weak to break up with a woman he hates.

My husband and I took a couple of breaks when we were dating, and kept coming back to eachother. It finally worked when we went to couple's counseling to help us work through our problems. Now we are five years married and going strong!

Ross and Rachel got back together after a break and eventually got married.

We were high school sweethearts but broke each other's hearts.

In college, we were really just sexual partners.

Grad/ first few jobs, we took the long break.

We figured out what we wanted and came back acting like adults. 3 kids.