DEAR ABBY: I have been married for 27 years. Most of them have been miserable. My husband has been a functioning alcoholic for more than 40 years. I consider his behavior emotionally abusive. I hate my home. My kids (22, 19 and 17) don't want me to leave him. I live in my bedroom all day by myself except to go to work. He now says he wants to take a pill to stop drinking. It's just another lie. He will never do it. I am a shell of a woman at 56 and want to end it all. I am so miserable I can't do another year of this. -- CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS

DEAR CAN'T: You shouldn't have to "do" another year of this. Consult a lawyer about a legal separation and move out. Tell your well-meaning children that you may return when their father can prove that he has quit drinking. If he takes the meds, once he sobers up, he may be less emotionally abusive. (Don't count on it.) However, if he fails to follow through, file for divorce.

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