Give it back.

Dear Cheater, It's been some time since we last spoke. Do you remember how I used to try so hard to make you happy? The grand romantic gestures to make you feel like you were the most special woman in the world? The million tiny thoughtful, caring things I did every day to remind you how much I loved you? Do you remember all the dreams we used to have that didn't seem so unfamiliar or unreachable back then, that every year for 7 years I made into reality to impress you, to show you what a man in love was capable of accomplishing? There used to be bright dreams in my future. My great hope has dimmed and faded. What a waste. How many things did you take from me? My love, my trust, my hope, my confidence in myself... replaced by bitterness, doubt, cynicism, and a diminished self worth. If I was naive to love you, what am I now to love nothing? I was broken but I willed myself back together. I made a home for myself that was better than the home we had together. I threw away our old bed and bought a better, newer one. I filled my life with new things, better things to replace you and the place you once held in my heart. And then I discarded my heart. It didn't have a place in my new life. It was too damaged, too soft, too weak to be of any value to anyone anymore. What's in it's place I wonder? Perhaps it's stone. Who knows? I don't want you anymore. But a heart made of stone is heavy and burdensome. Give me back the things you took from me but leave out love. I'd rather have contentment than happiness.