It's not that I'm not strong enough, I'm the strongest person I know. It's not that I'm scared about being lonely, I'm never lonely. It's not that I need him, I am very self sufficient. It's not that my son needs a father figure, I'm a great single mom.

It's because I never learned that most people are not high quality. I never knew what to look for, never knew how I should be treated, never knew how to make sure high quality is maintained in a relationship, never knew I needed to continue to evaluate how I was treated. I only knew that I needed to be good enough, and loyalty is key in a relationship. It's hard when you're attached, and want to watch him grow into the person you thought he was. At age 40, I thought I finally found the love of my life. He treated me so well, until we moved in together after 1.5 years of dating. I did it all right. But he changed after moving in and I didn't catch it; things like buying more for himself than for me, and not including me in his plans, and me playing second fiddle to the rest of his life, and more. And I kept trying to fix it, and finally I found this group and I now fiercely know that I need to move on. It just sucks. I feel duped, and sad, but THANK YOU for giving me the awareness that my life can be better than this. *Edited for punctuation