Stay or Go...

It’s been a long six years with this man I love. There have been ins and outs and ups and downs. I fell deeply, madly in love with him so fast, so easy, even after every broken heart. But then he goes void.

We act out a relationship – primarily in that we sleep in the same bed or eat the same things for dinner, but rarely much more than that when he is void.

We go places he walks ahead. I need his help and he can’t find the moment to help. We sit to watch a tv program and he plays on his PC, or puts head phones on and watches a different show. I walk out of the room he sees no difference. I make him dinner including all his dietary preferences but he shows no appreciation. I try to tell him of my pain and he relates it back to something I’ve done similar, thus nulling my right to feel the pain. I make mistakes and I apologize. I get angry and yell but come back to say I’m sorry.

Over and over and over and over…

Each time I start to walk away and meet someone new his emotions stir and he is relit to the life we share.

I break the new person’s heart and trust to go back to what I know I’ve loved all along – the man that loves me just as much and is emotionally available enough to show me.

I hate myself for this. Hurting one, two, three, four … people. For what?

The fourth time… I fell profoundly, wildly in love with a woman. I only thought I wanted to play around and decide if it was even possible to love a woman. We clicked instantly. We understood each other. The attraction was so intense and so deep. I’m told this is normal between two females... that the connection is stronger than anything that could ever be felt between a man and a woman. I do not know if this is true. No two people love or feel the same so how could any one person could truly define the capabilities of love throughout an entire species.

But he came back for me… as he always does. And I found myself stretched and stuck all at once. Beyond myself with how to choose between these two beautifully flawed individuals who were willing to give me so much love – because, of course, he was available then.

I chose him.

I broke her but I couldn’t let go of her. I offered to let go to let her move on and find happiness. She was as awe-struck as I was. We didn’t want to let go.

I broke him by loving her while being with him.

Again and again it came down to the wire for a year – he would mark a spot in the sand and say choose. Again and again I chose him.

Her heart and mine broke down and the love was more and more strained by reality, life, and circumstances.

I chose him again.

She moved on… he went void.

I hurt. I tried to rebuild. I tried to forgive. I apologized with all of the sincerity and love in my heart. And we bobbed gently down the river in the same direction occasionally bumping off one another. Existing in this empty shell of friendship, with physical proximity, and the rare sighting of hope. For a year I felt alone and empty but I continued with the assumption of us.

He’s broken.

My indiscretion is unforgivable.

My error was loving too much. My error was forgiving. My error was in wanting my partner present.

I forgave and forgave and forgave… and now I must move forward.

My insides are beyond weak. I’m lost in myself. I want to move on but I’m scared to hurt another… scared to hurt myself... scared to trust... scared to be let down again… scared to live.

I will go. But I am scared. I’m so fragile I feel a butterfly’s breath could break me.

I need you now more than ever.

Hold my hand?

If You Love Her Set Her Free?

Tonight… I miss everything about her.

I miss the softness of her buttery smooth skin. I miss the smell of her perfume entering a room just before her and demanding full attention of my senses. I miss the soft crisp texture of her recently tousled hair. I miss her sweet face and glowing smile. I miss the warmth of her touch. I miss the confidence she has even if it is misguided. I miss her lips on mine and the way they fit so perfectly together. I miss nibbling her bottom lip and hearing her groan. I miss the curve of her breasts. I miss the deliciousness in every inch of her. I miss her shyness. I miss the tattoo that wraps around her beautiful foot. I miss her sweet voice penetrating my thoughts. I miss her surprises. I miss her watching me. I miss her laugh. I miss her love.

I miss her.

They say your first love hurts the deepest. I want to find a new her... But all I’d ever do is compare them to her. I fear it would be a waste.

No one could touch me like her. No one could put me at ease like her. No one could taste like her. No one could ever be as clean as her. No one could purr like her. No one could love me like her.

All of this because I heard a song… She is that song. … Because there ain’t ‘nothing about you [her]’ that don’t do something for me.

God, how I miss her.

I hope she finds her peace. I hope she finds her happiness. I hope she feels complete. I hope she loves her life. I hope she feels loved. I hope they take care of her. I hope they spoil her right back. I hope she learns to let them in. I hope she lets go of all the past and focuses on her now. I hope the world for her. I hope no one hurts her.

I’m not her girl anymore. Someone else will be her girl. I am a fading memory now.

It hurts.

But nothing was ever on our side, and she deserves to be happy. She loves so completely. She deserves to feel that in return – forever and always. I just wish the ache would stop. But I think a little part of my heart is dying without her. I will be strong for her. I will let her have peace from me.

I will always remember her.

I will always love her.

What is Friendship Anymore?

At any given moment in my life, I can stop and reflect on who my friends are. I surround myself with these people with whom I share time, love, respect, and mutual likenesses. I treat them, care for them, and protect them... as if they are my world.

Recently this part of my world seems to be changing… draining. The people I held most dear have recently turned into nothing more than a mirage. I trusted and put myself into their lives. Giving them any heart and understanding that I could give, with a passion for their lives similar to the passion they had for their own… sometimes more.

Maybe I’m naive but I love with all of me. And my friends have my love… seemingly now and always. But the people I was giving myself over to… don’t seem to have that same passion or love for me.

A woman I allowed into my life as a best friend, an ex to my now ex, turned my love upside down. I worked with her to help her. I had patience for her and the complexity of her life and the mean people around her. I took her son in at a time when I could have turned against them… given my life, given my history. I could have been a doubtful person. Instead I opened my arms. I owned her pain as my own. I was a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, a body to stand strong against the storm winds with, I was a friend and a companion in dark days. Not without my moments of temperament, not perfect… because I never will be… but I was good to her.

Any sane woman would have balked at the idea of her man’s ex moving into his apartment. I didn’t. Instead I embraced with love and compassion

But when her emotions and temperaments got too much I spoke up against the behavior… not even against the woman, just the behavior… because she was, after all, my friend and I loved her.

For this… I was discarded… answered with threats of her poor situation. I was told it wasn’t my place to speak; it wasn’t my right nor my home. My insides ripped open and in pain I lashed out. Lashed at him, lashed at her, lashed out at myself.

He took her side.

How could he take her side? He agreed about her behavior. But he still took her side. Not my place. Not my right. My voice feels stolen again. And the rip in my heart goes deeper… and the blood is everywhere.

Everything inside of me feels out of place. Everything in my life feels upside down.

I gave all of myself because that is who I am. Now, I don’t know how to continue. Now, I don’t know where to continue. I don’t want to be selfish, I want to be selfless. And now, all I feel is emptiness.

Then came Toni… and I've embraced her with all that I have.