Dear Em & Lo,
Four months ago my girlfriend of three years ended our relationship. She gave me generic reasons: "It's not you, it's me; we're too young for such a serious relationship; we have a lot to experience." Finally this week I got her to drop her guard and open up to me. Her reasons were valid and I had no problem with them. We did have a communication problem, we swept big issues under the rug only so we wouldn't argue, etc. I noticed she used words like "cared,""liked a lot," and would only occasionally use "love" when she referred to me. So I asked her, "Were you ever actually IN love with me?" I'm paraphrasing her response but it went something like this: "People throw around 'I love you' all the time -- and that's okay because I'm sure they do -- but my ideas have changed so much on love. I just think that when you tell someone you're with that you love them, then you should want to marry them. Obviously you and I never got married or even came near it, so it would be unfair to say that I was IN love with you." Besides now thinking that the past three years were a complete waste of time and being crushed, I now question what I believe. I know that I was deeply in love with her and I would have bet my life on it that she was too. I don't know what love is anymore. What's your definition of love?
-- Heart in a Blender
Dear HiaB,
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: Your ex-girlfriend -- let's call her Jerkface -- is an evil shrew who has a piece of coal where her heart should be and who definitely doesn't deserve someone as nice, sensitive, and extremely good-looking as you obviously are.
There now. Feel a little better? Good.
We think Jerkface's philosophy of love is flawed: Just
because you are no longer together doesn't mean what you had
when you were together wasn't genuine or real. Plenty of
couples are "in love" at some point but don't end up
married, for any number of reasons: too young, different career
paths, one wants kids and the other doesn't, religious
differences, 3,000 miles between them, mistakes made that are
unforgiven, a disdain for the "institution" of marriage,
differing libidos, communication problems, extenuating
circumstances, the list goes on. Ever seen Once? Or even
The Breakup? There you go.
More...
The only reason we could see her dropping such a bomb on you is because she wanted to finally get you to drop it. And she would have a point: After four months, why are you still pushing her to open up about your past relationship, especially when she seems to have definitively moved on? No good can come of this -- as you've learned the hard way. If you've been clinging to some hope of reconciliation, despite signals to the contrary from her, then maybe she feared that admitting to once being in love with you (whether it's the truth or a kind white lie) would give you more false hope. Perhaps she was a bit harsh so you'd finally get the point, let go, and move on too.
And you should move on, but not by losing your faith in love. You say that you know you were deeply in love, and that's all that matters. You do know what love is. Even though Jerkface has worked hard to taint the memory of what you had, don't let her! Cherish the good times you had together, and try to learn from the mistakes you both made in the relationship. So that when you do fall in love again -- and you will -- it'll be with someone who won't be such a Jerkface if you -- and you might -- breakup.
All our love,
Em & Lo
