Hi Plucky and everyone else who has been reading this thread,
Unfortunately my trip hasn't begun yet mainly due to other family members' relying on my to help them (so I had to delay it). As such I felt obliged to help them out, probably the wrong thing to do but I guess you live and learn.
Plucky: Belive it or not I am not denying that she had the ability to do these things to me nor am I denying the fact that I can change her. But my concerns were more about how could I have let myself believe her and not trust my instincts. Unfortunately, over time and therapy I have been able to realise that she has NO remorse for what happens and wishes to continue with this charade of baseless allegations, nuisance calls, insults and harrassment for a while. Fortunately, I have been assembling some worthwhile support networks to try to confront this issue (and the issues that have resulted stemming from this relationship). Nope this is not one of those "A-team" type groups with some smart talking "Mr. T" like character (in case anyone was wondering it was an early 80's tv show). Instead, thanks to other and listening to the survival stories of others and consulting with my support network I have been able to start looking at re-establishing my boundaries and my life. Regardless of what happens I know it isn't going to be easy but having people who support me helps.
The strange thing is the constant blame game and allegations for the failures and short-comings of what has and is happening, whilst I am learning to care less about it, it still is tough to make sure I am properly able to continue my moving on! I guess after hearing about it for a while from her, others (from her indirectly) as well as from others who I considered to be close to me, I have learned to distance myself from her, her comments and the person who I originally fell madly in love. It was a Jekyl and Hyde personality, whose personal interest took precedence over anything important to me or anything from me.
I did learn one other thing, maybe if I wish her all the best in her endeavours and continue to take the right steps to having a decent, loving and caring relationship, I can categorise this experience as a character building and learning experience so it isn't a total loss.
Thanks for your interest Plucky,
j_stice