After you were gone the only thing I have left is everything.

A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, is currently going through a painful relationship. We spoke for some hours and I could not help but think of my last really painful relationship. So this is about my ex and this piece is dedicated to all people who have been in relationships with persons who take, take, take, and take and at the end of the day after you thought you would loose everything when they were gone, you found relief.

I found you somewhere I would rather not discuss, under circumstances that were less than ideal for the both us. I remember remarking that you were attractive though not in the traditional sense, but in a way that made sense to me. It was your style; I thought what a diamond a hidden gem you were, nothing like a beauty only visible to the beholder.

We would spend all night on the phone and in between working hours: lunch breaks, fifteen-minute breaks, on the way home; we spoke about everything. I remembered your stories about past pain and traumatic experiences that shaped who you were to become (past is always prologue). I thought looking at who you had become meant that you had changed, that you had overcame the things that tried to destroy you. I was wrong; I didn't yet know who you were.

You sucked the life out of everyone, and used what you had been through as an excuse for who you are. I was flexible, I caved, I loved, I gave and gave, and you took and took. So I finally left; out of town, out of state, I met someone who made me happy, but I felt with you there was something unfinished. You stayed on my mind, maybe I was masochistic, maybe it was true love or I was possibly confused. So I came back.

Then one day I got the phone call from you for the last time. You blamed me, you couldn’t do it anymore, you were too flaky, too fleeting, and you didn’t have the energy. I was devastated. I got home and looked around my apartment and realized that there was nothing in my apartment attributed to you: nothing in my home, nothing in my car, nothing at my workstation and finally nothing in my heart. Then suddenly there was relief. I smiled and realized that after you were gone the only thing I had left was everything. In fact I can go on because I had never lost anything.