Here I am again participating in this weekly contest. Today I've decided to include the topic of burning bridges among the various choices. Unfortunately, I've had to burn many bridges in my life. Some have hurt more than others, but unfortunately, sometimes it's necessary because some people hurt us and we can't take them with us. One of the first episodes I remember is fortunately among the milder ones. I had a best friend in high school, her name was Samantha. We were very close, but at a certain point she started behaving badly towards me. Since I was getting better grades, she always belittled me, saying I wasn't good at it but the teachers just liked me and things like that.
The same thing happened when I bought myself nice clothes or achieved a goal. She always belittled it. The worst happened when I got engaged. She was very jealous of my relationship and was always angry if I heard from my boyfriend at the time, so at a certain point I distanced myself because it was becoming really hard to be her friend. I was constantly bombarded with criticism, insults and unfounded jealousy, and I decided that I didn't want to deal with such malice anymore, especially when she started insulting other friends of mine because they were gay. This behavior was intolerable for me.
One of the most painful relationships I've had to sever was with my father. Unfortunately, he was a violent person with serious mental health problems and alcoholism. From a young age, he began threatening me, so much so that when I was 14, I had to file a court order against him. I tried several times to reconnect with him when he was in a rehabilitation center. For a while, we were civil, but then when he got out, he went back to making the same mistakes: being violent with his partner, drinking, and abusing her. At that point, I cut ties, unfortunately also out of anger, which I regret a little because he later passed away and I didn't go to his funeral. I was so angry about all the bad things he did to me, but I still felt pain and hurt. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to build a relationship with him; he wasn't a good person, and as a daughter, I suffered greatly. In my life, I've also had to cut ties several times, especially with exes or friends who didn't turn out to be friends. It's always difficult to break off relationships, but unfortunately, it's necessary for our mental health.
First picture edited by my phone translation with deepl.
