No rush. No pressure. He made me feel seen.
Not in the grand, movie-scene way. Just in the little things. He remembered how I liked my tea.
He noticed when I was overwhelmed. He asked before making decisions that affected both of us. And when his mom visited, and I offered to cook, she said, “You eat how you like.
I’ll try it your way.”
I nearly cried into the lentil stew. Now, two years out from the almost-wedding, I sometimes think about how close I came to marrying the wrong person. How sometimes, people don’t change—you just learn to see them clearly.
If I hadn’t said no to that shrug, that moment of dismissal, I’d be waking up every day beside someone who didn’t respect me enough to stand up with me. The food wasn’t the reason. It was the symbol.
I realized: when someone shows you that their comfort matters more than your dignity, believe them. It took walking away to understand my worth. And to stop settling for crumbs in a relationship when I’d been offering the whole feast.
So if you’re out there wondering whether that “small” thing is worth making noise about—it is. Because nothing small ever stays small when it’s about who you are. If you feel erased, that’s your sign.
I know now: love isn’t about who wins. It’s about who shows up. Every single day.
Like and share if you’ve ever had to choose yourself when it wasn’t easy. Maybe someone out there needs the courage too.
