I want to start by saying sorryātruly, deeply sorryāfor the way I answered your last question. I know it hurt. The truth is, my heart held a completely different answer from the one I gave you. But at that moment, I felt like you were already looking for a way out, and I didnāt want to make it harder for you. I thought, if I gave you something final, something clean, you wouldnāt second-guess yourself. I didnāt want you stuck in between. So I said what I said⦠even if it broke my own heart to do it.
I wish you knew how hard that was for me. I wish you knew that I had already bought a ringāI was planning to propose to you, even this early. Thatās how much I believed in us. Thatās how certain I was. But I failed. Not because I stopped loving you, but because I didnāt know how to love you in a way that made you feel secure, seen, and chosen every day.
Looking back now, I realize that maybe I made you feel like a fallback. Like you were only there when it was convenient. And that thought breaks me.
Because from the very beginning, my intentions were real. I wanted something honest, something lasting with you. But somewhere along the way, I fell short. Maybe I wasnāt consistent. Maybe I didn't make enough effort to truly understand what you were going through. Maybe I failed to make you feel that you were worth the effort, the plans, the time. And I see now how my responsesādistant, dismissive at timesācould have hurt. Maybe the way I replied with a simple āeh,ā or a shrug, or gave you coldness when you tried to be warmāthat wasnāt fair to you.
You were reaching out, and I met you with indifference.
You were trying to create space for connection, and I filled it with delays, excuses, and half-hearted energy. I didn't always match your enthusiasm. I didnāt always choose us when it mattered. You invited me to thingsādates, simple momentsāand I declined. That must have hurt. That must have felt like rejection. And Iām sorry for every time I made you feel like you werenāt worth showing up for.
What you were looking forācompanionship, consistency, sincerityāI see now that I made you feel like you were chasing it alone. Like you were the only one trying. And I understand why you had to pull back. Why you had to protect your heart.
Iām not writing this to erase your pain or to make excuses. Iām writing this because the truth matters, and you deserve to hear mine. You were never a fallback. You were never just an option. And if my actions made you feel that way, then I failed you in ways I didnāt realize until it was too late.
You are someone I looked up to, someone I dreamed with. You gave me your time, your effort, your patienceāand I didnāt always meet you with the same. That imbalance created a distance neither of us could cross.
Still, I want you to know: I was serious about you. I saw a future. I held that hope close, even when things got tough. And if I didn't show it the right way, if I was too slow, too guarded, too unsureāIām sorry. I carry that regret with me.
You have an amazing heart, and I hope you never let this experience make you doubt your worth. I'm proud of everything you're doingāespecially your journey through clerkship. You are surrounded by people who love and support you, and Iām one of them, even from a distance.
Take care, Love. Keep being the Kolleen I knowācompassionate, strong, and quietly extraordinary.