“It’s you and me against the world,” you said to me one summer night while we were lying in the sand, listening to the sound of the ocean waves. One year later at the very same beach you were cutting off my words as I was trying to speak. You decided to move on with a new life, leaving me with no explanation and a lot of blame. Only those accusations were vain.
Even now, I don’t think you realize the truth about how I felt then, and how I feel now.
I did forgive you, and I could let you go. But you didn’t hear me then or now. You’ve never listened.
You tried to shut me down, instead of giving me a space to talk. And I needed that space. We needed that space. And now here I am with the space to be heard.
So for everyone who too has found themselves silenced in a time when all their heart yearned for was the chance to be heard, here are 20 things they may have heard if they listened to you when they had the chance, and 20 things you deserve the chance to say now. I know I do.
1. I did nothing wrong. Neither did you.
2. I deserved more. I deserved to be treated better.
3. You only mentioned my wrongs but never noticed your own.
4. I could handle more than you thought I could.
5. I did wait for you.
6. I never asked you for more that you offered me.
7. Despite what you may think, I’m not angry with you.
8. I connected with you from the very first time we spoke.
9. You were the first person I felt that connection with. You were special to me.
10. Your biggest fear was to get hurt. So instead, you hurt me first.
11. You could have trusted me.
12. You shouldn’t have doubted me.
13. You could have told me about your passions.
14. You were my friend before anything else. And I was yours.
15. We both made mistakes, even if we needed them.
16. I would have listened. I would have said so much more, but you didn’t let me.
17. I love you, and I do miss you.
18. You hurt me.
19. I know it’s over between us, and that it’s for the best.
20. A part of you will always be in my heart.
I’ve written these words I could never say, because I needed to set my mind free.
Too often we keep unspoken words, trapped by time, pain and distance, hidden within our hearts. This is has been my chance to release them.
I hope you will hear me this time.