From an emotional perspective, Meri Brown may be beaten down.
She may be battered.
And she simply has to be bruised.
But the veteran Sister Wives star would like to make something abundantly clear to absolutely anyone paying attention:
She is not broken.
On this past Sunday night's Sister Wives tell-all special, Kody reiterated that he's 100% done with Meri as a romantic or sexual partner.
“There’s just no chance that I ever want that again," he said on air, prior to growing defiant over any claims that he abandoed Meri, citing her catfishing scandal in 2015 and adding:
"Meri had an affair. She was leaving my ass. She made it clear to everybody that she was getting out of there. She was done with us. She can’t admit it now.”
Is Meri still part of the Brown family?
Yes, Kody insisted, but...
“I’m not ever going to be in a conjugal relationship with her because I’m not going to go through that emotional torture ever again.
"I’m not trying to make Meri sound bad, it’s just a bad match.”
Kody wasn't down talking down about Meri, either.
"There’s a point where intimacy is just damage," the father of 18 claimed.
It’s misleading to have intimacy in a relationship where there’s no real safety. I’m not going there. No, and I never will again. I will be her friend. I will do what I can to protect her.
"I’m never going to feel safe in an intimate place.”
Points for Kody for honesty? We guess?
For her part, Meri admitted she hasn't slept with Kody in 10 years (!!!!!!) and added that she would love to do so again. Someday.
“That’s definitely something that I miss. I miss emotional intimacy with him. I miss conversations with him. I miss physical intimacy with him,” she said on air.
“I would love it if he would hold my hand. I have hope that he will [come back to full fellowship] and also if he never does then I’m going to create my own peace and happiness within the family relationships that I do have.
"This is my family."
Where does Meri stand on this same issue at the moment?
She appeared to make it clear this week on social media.
“Be the person who breaks the cycle,” reads a meme Brown sharred on Wednesday, February 2.
“If you were judged, choose understanding. If you were rejected, choose acceptance. If you were shamed, choose compassion.”
Concluded Meri in this not-so-subtle and rather pointed message:
Be the person you needed when you were hurting, not the person who hurt you.
Vow to be better than what broke you — to heal instead of becoming bitter, so you can act from your heart, not your pain.
As Meri has so often done over the past several months, she did not cite Kody by name in this cryptic post.
But come on now.
Does anyone -- and we mean, ANYone?!? -- not think Meri was making a reference here to her very selfish and very sexist spiritual husband?
The TLC personality has posting multiple quotes this week amid her strained marriage to Kody, including one which read:
“Do not become small for people who refuse to grow."
Meri has also said she plans on living a beautiful life, no matter how little quality time she gets with Kody.
As for why she's even in this fractured marriage?
As for why she hasn't followed Christine's lead and walked away?
Meri touched on this topic on the same Season 16 special that aired a few days ago.
“From where I am, it’s been 31 years now that we’ve been married [and] I’m still committed. I’ve made my choice. I’m still here. I do still have hope.
"I want there to be [a future in full fellowship],” she said.
Meri even said that she’s still invested because she loves Kody. For some reason.
“I just feel peace when I think about staying in the family because it’s what I want. It’s what I know is right for me.”