I've been with my b/f for closing in on 2 years. For a bit of background my boyfriend has a past that if he were a woman would greatly hinder his ability to gain a commitment. Drugs, booze, sex, and a soft arrest record. Just to give you an idea. Well, when he was 22 ( a year before I met him) he decided that wasn't the life he wanted forever and started making changes. Got clean, reduced his drinking, stopped getting in legal trouble.

Cue Halloween, 2013. We meet, we hit it off and become involved, we become exclusive and meet each others families, and I'm bombarded with "Omg, you did it, you changed him!"

Umm... What? No, no I did not "fix him" he made real, difficult, life changes and we got together. I did not ask him to, force him to, heck, I didn't even know him when he was going through his massive self- destructive phase, I met him after he got his life together.

I feel that when other people do this (his family, his friends) they're taking credit away from him for deciding to become a better, more productive person. That was his choice, his journey, and his struggle that I don't want credit for.

I think I could probably use these moments to actually brag about him somehow... Like, when someone says, "I can't believe how much you changed him." I could reply with something along the lines of... I don't know, I'm drawing a blank.

TL;DR: I want my b/f to get the recognition for the massive and positive life changes he was able to make (which I really had nothing to do with). Changes like that are tough and it bugs me when people give me credit for his hard work.