My best Valentine's Day gift ever

Oh my gosh, I cannot believe I forgot to blog about this until now.

So I don't think I've talked about my ex in a while, and that was primarily because at the end of last year I realized I didn't need to be talking to (or, more correctly, emailing with) him. We didn't have our planned meet-up/talk/whatever in December, and it seemed best to let sleeping dogs lie for my mental and emotional health. Sadly, unless they've passed on to the next life, sleeping dogs will eventually wake up. I can't take that analogy any further, because it has nothing to do with this story.

Said ex decided to write me in the second week of February, to say hi and tell me how his Christmas was and how his job was and other stuff that, quite frankly, I don't care about any more. I was going to just ignore the email and let him get the message that way; but then I figured, hey, let's be up front, tell him how I feel and not have this linger. So I wrote the following:

Marco,

I no longer wish to continue the ongoing exchange of emails with someone whom, at this juncture and after such a lengthy period of time, I neither know nor trust in regards to their behavior towards me. If you ever find yourself willing and able to commit the time to rebuilding a friendship – beginning with an open conversation about (and apology for) the way you ended our previous relationship – I would be willing to speak with you again. Otherwise, I don’t think there is any need for further contact between us, as it would be disingenuous and fruitless.

Sincerely, etc.

Not the warmest message, I'll grant you. And I anticipated something along the lines of one of the following responses:

1. "I'm sorry, you're right, let's talk." (Best, but highly unlikely)
2. "I don't want to talk about it; see ya." (Irritating, highly likely)
3. "I don't have anything to apologize for; see ya." (Still irritating, not unexpected)
4. Silence (Incredibly irritating, most likely)

What I did not expect was the following:

whatever

Yep. Just that one word. It was kind of amazing really; it's basically a "f--k you," but without the swearing.

I did write him back after that, just to thank him for the best Valentine's Day gift he could have possibly given me ... because nothing could have killed my lingering affection more swiftly, or convinced me more heartily that I was well rid of any man who could be that big of a jerk. I think I must not have known him at all when I was dating him; either that, or I completely ignored, in my time-honored tradition, the many warning signs indicating that beneath my cuddly, sweet, sometimes frustrating boyfriend lurked the heart of a total bastard. It's probably a little of both.

As a footnote, I thought my therapist used a great phrase in describing the aftermath of this relationship for me: she said I was "laid low" by what happened, and was only just now starting to re-emerge. I think that's the perfect way to put it. And now it's time to get back up.