Dear Annie: I have been married for 45 years, and the silence in my marriage feels deafening. It did not happen overnight. It built slowly over the years, like a snowball rolling downhill, growing larger and heavier until it now seems to fill every corner of our home.

I always believed I was being a good wife and partner. I raised our children, kept the books, did the laundry, cooked the meals, handled the shopping, managed the house, worked full time for many years and then part time, and carried most of the invisible load that keeps a family running. My husband worked full time and helped occasionally with mowing our four acres, but most of the daily responsibilities fell to me.