The "Goodbye Letter" to a "Friend"

Or:  How I Learned to Stop Believing the Lies

For months, I was told a very specific story. He told the world and he told me that the letter he sent her was just a “goodbye letter to a friend.” He looked me in the eyes and said he wanted to keep me, hold onto our lives, and that he couldn’t lose me.

But then I read the words he actually wrote.

You don’t ask yourself, “Am I falling in love with this woman?” when you’re writing to a “friend.” And you certainly don’t blow up two long-term marriages for a simple “friendship.” Because she was in a long-term marriage, too – one that ended specifically because of this “connection” they claimed to have. Two lives, two families, and 34 years of my history, all treated like collateral damage for their “bridge.”

The most demented part? While he was telling me he loved me and begging me to stay, he was writing to her about how he was “no longer traceable” because he’d moved to a secret phone plan, (his daughter’s phone plan).

How is that possible? How do you set my world on fire and then have the nerve to ask me – the person you betrayed – to be the one to comfort you through the “stress” of it? Make it make sense…….

To the world, he wanted to be the “good guy” just saying a polite goodbye. To her, he was “Stickless Hoss” playing the role of the soulful, tortured romantic.

But to me? He’s just a man who got caught.

Why am I telling this story now? I thought you were over it all? Why now?

Because being “over it” doesn’t mean the truth has to stay buried. It’s not about being stuck in the past; it’s about finally being allowed to speak the truth in the present. I’m telling it now because silence is exactly what let the gaslighting happen for so long. For 34 years, I played my part, but I’m not an actress in his play anymore. I’m telling it now because I finally have the clarity to see it for what it was, and the strength to say it out loud without fear. This isn’t about looking back; it’s about clearing the air so I can move forward with a clean slate.

Today, I’m not analyzing his “internal debates” or his “nightmares” anymore. I’m standing here, hair in the wind, watching those scraps of paper fly away. He can stay on the ground scrambling to pick up the pieces of his story. I’m finally free, finally breathing, and finally seeing the truth.

On to his next Supply and gathering more Flying Monkeys.

This really paints the full picture now. It shows that it wasn’t just a mistake, it was a very bad choice between two people making choices that impacted multiple lives.  If you are reading this…. Is this really what you want to blame ME for… your choices?  Did any of this end the way you wanted it to? Keep telling yourself “I said I was sorry 100 times, but I did nothing wrong….”  Right.

#TheTruthSetsYouFree #NoMoreGaslighting #MovingOn #LifeAfter34Years #SticklessWho #accountability

Photos for this post are AI Generated