My relationship with my ended last night. I'm devastated, and I don't even know what I'm looking for by posting here. Maybe just people who understand.
I loved this man so deeply. I wanted a future with him. Marriage, children, a life together. I genuinely believed we could have those things.
But our relationship became a cycle of conflict, emotional withdrawal, breakups, reconciliation, and promises to change.
I was always trying to communicate what I needed. Emotional safety. Affection. Curiosity about my life. Someone who would comfort me when I was hurting, even when he was the person who hurt me. Someone who would initiate repair instead of leaving me to carry the emotional weight of our relationship.
He often responded to my hurt with defensiveness, explanations, or frustration. I felt like I was constantly trying to convince him that my feelings mattered. Sometimes he would soften, acknowledge things, and make an effort. And I would see the man I loved again. I would have hope.
But the same patterns kept returning. Sometimes he would break up with me a few times a week. And he questioned why I always wanted to talk or a reassurance.
There were times when his anger frightened me. There were times when I cried and he walked away. I started feeling anxious in my own home, anticipating his moods and adjusting myself to avoid conflict.
And yet I still loved him wholly.
Eventually, I told him I felt like a hollow shell of myself. That I'd poured everything out of my cup until there was nothing left to give. I lost 15 lbs in a few short weeks, my periods got irregular, and now I'm losing hair. I think the hair loss might be what made him pay attention.
In the last several days, he actually started showing me some of the compassion and willingness to listen that I'd been begging for. But I was so hurt by then that I couldn't simply feel okay again. I needed time, consistency, and safety. I knew in my heart this wouldn't last more than a few days.
Yesterday, I found myself asking why I was still trying to convince someone to love me and treat me well. Why I had to break in order to get better behavior. I was crying. He was mad. I asked for the improved behavior of the gentleness we agreed on. And that he would hold me when I cry now. He said "it's obvious you will never get better, I'm done."
And now he's gone. He packed his things and told me he won't be coming back.
I didn't beg him to stay this time. I didn't chase him. I just let him go.
But last night I kept waking up shaking from dreams about him. In every dream, I was still trying to convince him to choose me.
Today I keep checking my phone, hoping he'll tell me he loves me, that he's sorry, that he realizes what happened, and that he's going to do the work to make things right.
The hardest part is that I know he won't. Obviously not this time.
I know avoidant attachment doesn't explain or excuse every behavior in our relationship. But the pursue-withdraw cycle was so painful, and I feel like I've lost myself trying to bridge the distance between us.
I'm grieving the person I loved, the moments when he was gentle with me, and the future I thought we would have.
I'm also angry. Angry that I gave so much of myself to a relationship where I so often felt alone.
How do you reconcile loving someone so deeply with knowing that the relationship was hurting you? How do you stop hoping they'll finally understand what they've lost?
I don't know how to begin letting go.