So a friend from church gave me some advice on how to deal with/ process some of the emotions I am going through. She suggested I write a mean angry letter with all the things I feel and think in order to get all the mean and negative out; then I burn it or rip it up. I am to then follow up with a letter about all the things I am grateful for that I received from him, so I can at least acknowledge it wasn't all wasted time and to be grateful for the things I have.
To be honest I don't have the desire to write the angry one anymore. At the moment I don't feel the need to be angry and hold onto it, so maybe if it comes up again, I will do it then, but I really liked the idea of the gratitude letter. Difficult, for sure, but beneficial for me in the end, so her it is:
Dear Joshua,
I can honestly say you are the first and only man I have ever loved. Other boys I dated were distractions, and when I met you, you lit me on fire. You taught me what love felt like and although I had talked about growing up single and independent, the feeling you gave me changed my mind, opening me up to a world of new possibilities.
You were the first person to ever make me feel like I was truly desired or even understood. You loved my failures and praised my accomplishments, making me feel, even through my depression, that I was enough.
you were my first for just about everything and you were patient and made sure I was comfortable as I began to open up and learn things with you as my teacher. You never seemed to judge me and made me feel powerful in the process.
You used to go out of your way to do things for me and ensure my happiness, once again making me feel valuable and special, sacrificing time and money to be with me and do for me.
You worked throughout our marriage, giving me the opportunity to finish my degree and support us throughout the years, eventually allowing me to be a stay at home mom: the one and only goal I had for years and wanted to be.
You used to study with me and read all my papers even though I know you had no care or concern in what I was doing; you still did it for me, helping me grow as I reached for my degree.
I am thankful, so very thankful that you took me to the temple to be sealed so that I always have the blessings and comfort of those covenants for myself and for my children.
I am thankful that you were patient and aware of my tender, broken, sore back and would always be willing to rub it when asked or when sore, which was often.
I am thankful you gave me the two greatest miracles I could ever hope to be rewarded with in this life and this alone made our entire time together worth it. You helped make me a mom.
Believe me I am sad when I acknowledge the list of things I am ungrateful for in the course of our relationship far exceeds this list, but these are the things I hold dear. These are the things I hope to remember you by and these are the things I hope to share with the children so that they can get see there is more to "dad" than someone who comes and goes.
I gave you my heart and I am thankful I am getting it back and piecing it together so that I can start a new list of thankfuls with someone new.
That was such a touching letter, too bad your "other letter" had to be.
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