"The Passions of the Mind"

That's the title of the book I'm currently reading. It was written by Irving Stone in 1970 and is a historical novel about Sigmund Freud. If I'm understanding correctly the structure of Freud's theoretical framework, the kinds of events you describe might well play into the formulation of your psyche.

Are these overly bad experiences? They seem pretty tragic to me, but I think many have similar or worse stories to tell. I've tried to not let them colour my outlook on life but I think they must have.

They are tragic ... and they have coloured your outlook, as all your experiences have. Others may have "worse stories to tell," but that doesn't mean yours are any less formative.

First bride walking down the isle knowing she'd been at it with some other fella during the last week.

Ouch. The betrayal of trust might be the single most damaging thing that can happen to us. More in a bit. The heartache I suffered in my present marriage some 10 years ago now involved something similar, only after the wedding rather than before. It makes me wonder if "trust" is the one thing that is truly ours to give, which is why a violation of that trust is so painful.

Second wife trying to convince K's older sister to tell the authorities that I was abusing the children, just so that she could get me kicked out of my own house.

The element of this that triggers the strongest reaction in my heart is the sense of injustice about this. The "second wife" should not have done this, clearly. But more, she should not have been able to do try this. The fact that she could simply state a falsehood and invoke the mechanism of the state against you is a terrible injustice. The use of power against the powerless is a major theme in the Bible. I'm sure it's a dominant theme throughout human history.

What are some key moments in your life? Well that you'd be willing to share here anyway.

[ I had some things here, but upon reflection I decided it was best to remove them]