A Letter to the Woman I Abandoned: Me

Kathy Mattoon
Jul 16, 2025
4 min read

We often speak of heartbreak as something caused by others. But what happens when we are the ones who break our own hearts? When we abandon ourselves to be everything for everyone else–until there’s nothing left? This is my letter to the woman I neglected, dismissed, and silenced.

This is a letter to me.

Maybe it’s a letter to you, too.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry for ignoring your pain.

For all the times I saw you struggling and said, “You’re strong – just push through.”

I told you it would pass, that you’d come out stronger in the end.

But I watched as the “pushing through” slowly chipped away at you, piece by piece.