You told me you loved me but you didn’t even act like you respected the things I loved about myself the most. You gave me a lot of emotional support and encouragement, but some of the things I was passionate about you downplayed and that would make me feel bad. You made it seem like my mental illness would prevent other people from loving me sometimes. It’s a part of who I am, and maybe some people would reject me for it but you made me feel embarrassed about it.

All the other things that happened…they were things that made me see you weren’t ready to be a husband or a father, but also when stressors arrived you weren’t trying to tackle them together with me. You didn’t treat me like a partner. And I didn’t treat you like a partner either sometimes because I got resentful of carrying the weight.

I think you just weren’t ready.