They say that home is where the heart is and darling I built that home with you. 

Within the walls of my heart, I enclose my hopes and dreams of a future with you. When I started building this home, I knew it was something worth while. 

I built the walls first. They were strong. There to keep out intruders. To keep you warm and safe, to make you feel loved and wanted. A door, to give you a way out if you ever felt overwhelmed, or if even for a second, you felt like our love wasn’t worth it. The windows, so that you could see what everyone else had as well, but hoping that you could be happy with what you had here in our home. I made the roof next, security to prevent the hurricanes and tornadoes from washing away what we were making together. We decorated each room with memories. Every piece had its own flashback in time. Every corner was filled with nothing but love and devotion. 

This home with you will never be completely finished, it is an ongoing project. It has its faults but nothing that can’t be repaired. I have put my entire being into making sure this home is a place we both want to be, a place where we can share in both joy and sorrow. 

But, you have found another home. 

The home you found is cozy and easy to live in but it was not built for you. 

Our home will always suit me just right. I built it myself, every crack and every crease. I know every stain and every tear. You and I have history in this home and it is not something I will just walk away from. So for now, I will be here, waiting for you to come home. 

But don’t think for even a split second that you can just come back in without earning your keys back. Don’t let the thought float your mind that you can just ring the doorbell, telling me what you want me to hear and I’ll naively welcome you with open arms. I am not ignorant. I changed the security alarm code. I put up my own walls against you. I fought my own battles and without you I learned to live alone in our home. 

If you want back in, you will work on this home with me. You will start with the foundation and make sure that it is just how you left it. You will seal every split in every piece of wood, from where my emotions overcame me and my walls came tumbling down. You will redo the floors, from where I was so angry, I tracked in all the filth and stomped it all off. You will get new linens from where our sheets had to be the tissues to whip my tears while I tried to sleep at night. You will buy new curtains. Sheer curtains, so that even when you see what everyone else has it will be but a distant blur. It will not tempt you anymore. You will replace the door with a more steady door. One that doesn’t just open by accident and allow you to wander to other homes. 

Then, when all the blemishes have been mended, you will redecorate. You will create new memories in this home. You will prove yourself worthy.

I have put my strength, my trust, and my compassion into this home. And if you want what we had together back, then darling, you will work for it.