Today is a particularly bittersweet Valentine’s Day for me, as my guy and I recently decided to split. As I mentioned in my last post, I just wasn’t feeling those intense, urgent feelings that we associate with being in love (or infatuation, if you will).
I was happy, content to spend time with this man I enjoyed getting to know, actually pleased to be able to see him for the man he was — without the clouded judgment and crazy-making obsession — and like, love and care for him, warts and all. The status quo was enough. There were so many more things I looked forward to sharing with him. I could wait to see whether it would grow. But in my heart of hearts, I didn’t know that it would. And of course he wanted more than that…more than I could give right now.
Even after we talked about it, we went on with our plans for the evening, smooching at the deli counter, holding hands in the car, holding one another until the wee hours. It was tender, compassionate, honest, respectful…much as our relationship had been.
So while I’ve reflected on it all these past few days, the overwhelming feeling I’ve had is that I’m so incredibly blessed! Blessed and honored for the privilege of knowing such a wonderful man intimately, for the tender moments we shared and for the way we conducted ourselves throughout. I was proud of standing up for myself, drawing boundaries, expressing my feelings, needs and desires, for arguing without saying something that might cause un-doable harm and, in the end, for being honest with myself and with him about how I wasn’t feeling.
I’m sure I could list at least a hundred things I’ll miss about him, including his gentle touch, generosity and soft lips. I’ll miss hearing all the kind, life-affirming things he said to me — and I can only hope I said some kind things back to him that he will carry with him, too.
It was a wonderful relationship with the best possible break-up, one that leaves me feeling bittersweet and so, so blessed.
February 15th, 2012 at 12:56 am
Very lovely post.
February 15th, 2012 at 3:00 am
Ugh. There’s isn’t nothing like V-day to reinforce the feeling of a breakup.
February 15th, 2012 at 3:29 am
Very sweet post, and I must say that I am proud of you for having the courage to be honest with your man about how you were not feeling. Some would, and DO, choose to “stay in it”, rather than telling the truth. I can relate so well to your journey…thank you so much for sharing yourself with us. 🙂 BLESSINGS
February 7th, 2013 at 10:19 pm
[…] When it ended, this former boyfriend of mine suggested I might need to get my heart broken a time or two in order to realize how dumb I’d been to let him – a decent man, a man who could commit — go. Seems he was right. […]