It should be a mantra: It wasn’t our fault. It wasn’t our fault...

When I left my ex, I wrote a letter to myself with all the reasons I left. I reread that letter a million times. It saved me from going back. I know he’d like the world to think the divorce wasn’t because of his addictions but because of me—because I’m a heartless twat who gave up on the person I promised to love.…

This. It took me two years after the abuse to realize that in his absence I was “abusing” myself by saying the same things he said to me and reminding myself that it really wasn’t that bad. But it was. It fucking was. And now, three years later, I’m still carrying the shit HE left behind. I know I always will. Because…

I considered myself a strong person who would never put up with anyone’s bullshit, let alone abuse. Then, almost poetically, I became aware that I was being abused by my ex only once I found myself in a psych ward for suicidal thoughts and severe depression. None of it was on the front of my mind even though…