I gave more than I admitted to myself Dear Delyara,

Dear Delyara, I think that’s why the friendship hurt me so much in the end. Not because it exploded. Because I had been giving more than I was willing to name while I was giving it. More patience. More emotional labor. More understanding. More waiting. More excuse-making. More grace than was coming back. I didn’t call it sacrifice at the time. Now I can see it more clearly. That clarity is painful too.