Stories Plus

I’ve had quite a few relationships over the years, but most of them weren’t entirely healthy. In the past, I didn’t care much about myself so I just took whatever treatment or attention I could get. It wasn’t until much later that I started to care more about myself and how I was treated. One of my old coworkers ended up asking me out and he taught me a lot about what a healthy relationship should look like.

I was 21 when we started dating. At the time, I was still working through a lot of my problems. He was very careful about my boundaries, asking every time before kissing me to be sure I was okay with the contact. While our relationship didn’t last long, I enjoyed every moment. He was very sweet to me and often messaged me to see how I was doing and just to remind me he was thinking of me. I was very happy with him. We only dated a few months before we broke up.

I had decided to take him to the restaurant I had taken all of my previous boyfriends. After arriving at his house, he seemed rather upset. I couldn’t understand what was wrong, but he told me he couldn’t see us working long term. Since we had already agreed to eat out and go to that place, he took me out to one last date. I was trying to rationalize things, but he explained he didn’t see himself marrying me and was afraid he’d start to slowly become more distant with me and he’d rather cut things off on good terms before it got to that point. He made sure to remind me that the way he treated me was the bare minimum for any relationship and that the next person I ended up with needed to follow his example. After that last date, I drove home and stayed up until almost two in the morning when it finally hit me. I was upset for a while but I moved on and in hindsight, he was right. My girlfriend is my soulmate and I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else!

While our relationship didn’t last more than a few months, he taught me a lot about what a healthy relationship should look like and what I should be searching for in a partner. I was very distraught when it ended, but I’m a better person now. He definitely helped me a lot during that time and I’m a lot healthier now. I’m very happy where I am today.