I hit menopause and all my masking and people-pleasing just *stopped*. Turns out, masking my real self and bending over backwards to keep everybody happy was what had been holding the fragile shell of my marriage together. Without that, it crumbled. I’m happier now because I’m authentically myself. He still doesn’t really understand what changed. But we’re okay; we’re friends. I’ll never go back though. I no longer have the ability to be who I used to be.