Dear Ex Love,

I once thought that you would be the man that I married. We had made plans to spend the rest of our lives together and I had never loved or been loved like we loved one another. You were the best boyfriend and fiance a girl could ask for. Always a true gentleman, you treated me like an absolute princess. But as you know, our relationship wasn't all sunshine and flowers. We, like all other couples, had our issues. Our relationship became rocky and we both knew that it was probably nearing the end of its course.

It was mutual. We both agreed to end the relationship because, even though we had planned on getting married, there were things that neither one of us was willing to give up or get past. Towards the end, I know that you resented me for that and I felt the same way. We both knew that wasn't healthy and terminating the relationship was best for both of us. There was no animosity between us and as soon as we were no longer a couple, all the resentment we felt towards each other vanished. We were each other's best friends in the relationship and my fear was that that we wouldn't be able to continue that, but as soon as we broke up, our friendship flourished without the burden of a crumbling relationship.

This was a year and a half ago and we have remained close friends through it all. I have always had glowing things to say about you because you had treated me so well. I would always tell people that even though we didn't work out, I thought that any girl would be lucky to be with you. I would tell my friends about all of the romantic and sweet things you would do for me and we would talk about how it's so hard to find a guy as incredible as you. I knew that you loved me deeply and would have done absolutely anything for me. When people ask me why we broke up, I would say things along the lines of, "the relationship ran its course." It didn't end badly and there was never any one horrible thing that either one of us did to upset the other. Or so I thought.

My perception of you has completely changed. You just recently told me that towards the end of our relationship, you were unfaithful. My initial feeling was utter and complete betrayal and hurt. I almost felt as if I might throw up. Like you had taken the rug out from under my feet. Here I was, feeling totally ignorant of the person I thought you were. Turns out that I probably shouldn't have put you on a pedestal quite so high. I knew we weren't perfect, but I thought that we were different. Before this, I would have been so confident telling any girl to date you and knowing that you would never do anything like that to her. I guess that's the hardest part though; knowing that you're just not the person I thought you were.

I feel like something has been taken from me. Like our relationship wasn't as great as I thought. It makes me wonder what else you kept from me. You swear over and over that it was only once and that you didn't do it to hurt me, but now I will always have that doubt in the back of my mind. I understand we were having issues, and that we were already at a point of no return. You were hurt and I do take some responsibility there. You were hurting because of how bad our relationship had became, but that doesn't excuse what you did. It's also the fact that you kept it from me, and for so long. You went on like everything was completely fine, when in reality it wasn't. It feels odd being so upset about something that happened so long ago, but I think it's because you're just now telling me. It just sucks knowing that our once-wonderful relationship wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

You're human, though, and we humans tend to make mistakes. I know that it is something that you deeply regret and that you would take it back if you could. I know that you loved me very much and sometimes we hurt the people we love the most. Again, when you put someone on too high of a pedestal, they are bound to come crumbling down at some point. But we all have flaws; I have plenty of my own. I'm not sure our friendship is salvageable, and at the very least, I doubt we will ever be the same. I don't trust you, but by writing this letter, this is my first step in forgiving you.

Best Wishes,

The Girl You Once Loved