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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To email my ex a final time?

240 replies

Jojobar · 28/04/2020 09:52

I was in a relationship for a number of years which ended recently.

He was living at my house during the lockdown period, which he didn't like as he doesn't like it here. He started behaving a bit off-ish to me, not coming to bed til 3am, that kind of thing. I instigated a conversation which he didn't like , the discussion became quite heated and he ended up putting his hands on me and poking me. Didn't hurt but it was more the significance of it. He stormed out and went home (lives over 3 hours away).
He contacted me a week later and tried to say there was fault on both sides, we were both as bad as each other. I said that I needed him to apologise for what he'd done to me and how it had upset me, he needed to acknowledge it was wrong and he wouldn't do it again (for context he is 6 inches taller and about 9st heavier than me).

He refused and asked if I was really going to throw away our relationship for such a pathetic reason. I said that I couldn't see a way to move forward in the absence of an apology/ acknowledgment. He said have it your own way...that was the end of the call. That was 2 weeks ago and I've not heard from him since.

I really hoped he would see it from my POV, but I don't think he can. Even up to the last few days I've been hoping he might have some kind of lightbulb moment where he realises he's being unfair but he's so entrenched into believing he is never wrong that I don't think that can happen.

I am really quite angry at him for throwing everything away over something so minor - I willingly apologise for things all the time, am always trying to see the other persons viewpoint. Our relationship has not been plain sailing, he was diagnosed with cancer after we'd been together only 6 months (he's fine now thankfully), he's suffered multiple bereavements, lost a job, I've helped him moved house 4 times, supported him through a difficult court case...yes I have ups and downs but nothing on that scale. He also cheated on me last year, as a result of which we split up for a number of months.

I just feel like I supported him through all that, which wasn't easy, forgave his infidelity (and all the shit which came with it as the woman he was seeing then started stalking and harassing me) and he couldn't make this small effort for me? It really sticks in my craw, and I want to write to him and tell him.

And also to call him out on some of his other bullshit, like he said more than once that we'd get engaged yet no ring ever appeared. Even last year after all the shit he and that psycho put me through, I said if we were going to get back together I'd want some kind of commitment, he agreed. Said something like hoe it was quid pro quo for giving him another chance. But nothing happened.

I dont think whatever I write to him will change the outcome, but I just want to have my say. Or as he would say, insist on having the last word, because apparently I see all arguments as wining and I have to win. His words. I just want to call out his bullshit because even if due to his 20 odd years of habitual weed smoking he can't remember what he's said, I bloody well can.

So WIBU to email him?

OP posts:
zozozoe · 28/04/2020 09:54

He sounds dreadful. Don’t email him. Get on with your life and find someone better.

MrAlyhakinsMassiveYacht · 28/04/2020 09:55

Why would you want to email him? Even if he says "yes of course you were right about everything" you surely aren't going to want to have anything to do with him ever again, are you? Because that would be madness.

kimlo · 28/04/2020 09:55

why would you want to?

He's never going to see your side, you aren't going to get anything out of it.

ludothedog · 28/04/2020 09:56

Don't email him! Walk away and don't look back. There is nothing to be gained from sending him an email.

ThePlantsitter · 28/04/2020 09:57

What would be a satisfactory outcome for you from writing such an email? Do you think you would get it?

CuriousaboutSamphire · 28/04/2020 09:58

So lockdown has saved you wasting yet more time with a bullying twonk!

Stay silent. Let him wonder how the fuck you managed to escape!

PatchworkElmer · 28/04/2020 09:58

Just leave it OP. He sounds awful!

LeaveItBarbara · 28/04/2020 09:58

Don't email him. It will mess with his head far far far far more than anything you could put down in words. And then walk away because you're worth more than this.

LeaveItBarbara · 28/04/2020 09:59

I mean, write the FUCK YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON email if it makes you feel better but don't send it. And by don't send it, I mean unplug your router for the entire time you're writing it, and then delete it before you plug the router back in. Just in case.

Comps83 · 28/04/2020 10:01

Call it a day . You can do better

Jojobar · 28/04/2020 10:01

I have to laugh at 'find someone better'. I was single for over 5 years before I met him, he's the only man I've ever had a relationship with who was similar to me in intelligence, personality etc, and who valued my brain as much as everything else. I've never met another man who hasn't expected me to dumb myself down...so I don't think there are loads of men out there!

That's not a reason to restart anything with him. We are very much done because I can't be treated like that again even if the alternative is probably being on my own for the rest of my life :/

OP posts:
Spaghettio · 28/04/2020 10:01

There's an amazing thread here on MN where a woman was dumped by text (!) but didn't respond. After months of wanting to, and resisting, he finally contact her and got arsey that she hadn't responded. She'd moved on by this point.

That's the way to do it. If he doesn't care enough to apologise, he won't care if you send an email outlining his faults. He will care if you don't contact him. He will wonder why you're not going back for even more heartbreak.

Frumpylumpyvixen · 28/04/2020 10:01

Write the email But send it to yourself then delete it.

You deserve better, far better and whatever you can do to close that chapter the better, get the thoughts and feeling out, written down then move on, delete the mail as a symbolic gesture

You deserve better

SunShine682 · 28/04/2020 10:02

He’s a tosser! Don’t lower yourself by contacting him! He will see that as you chasing him.

Shoxfordian · 28/04/2020 10:03

Don't email him, he's a knob
Silence is sometimes the best response you can give

LovingLola · 28/04/2020 10:03

You’re well rid.

zozozoe · 28/04/2020 10:04

You need therapy, stat.

MumW · 28/04/2020 10:04

You've seen who he is. So many red flags there. Why would you want to engage at all. Block and run for the hills.

NotExactlyHappyToHelp · 28/04/2020 10:05

The opposite of love isn’t hate it’s total indifference.

Write the email and then save it in your drafts. Go back and read it if you feel the need to.

STAYTHEFUCKHOME · 28/04/2020 10:07

What happens when you send it?

You check your inbox every five minutes like a lovestruck teenager hoping for a reply from their crush? He never replies and you regret it? He replies and you argue more?

Take this as a big flashing sign:- He’s a cheat. He’s a drug user. He’s got physical with you. RUN THE FUCK AWAY AND NEVER LOOK BACK.

dontdisturbmenow · 28/04/2020 10:07

You had a heated discussion, so uneassnt words exchanged, voices raised, and him poking you. You agreed that you were both at fault for getting to this point. You want him to apologise, but have you acknowledged your wrong doing and apologised too?

If so, he is an idiot. If you haven't, then why is it all about seeing things from your pov but not his?

BrandoraPaithwaite · 28/04/2020 10:08

Oh god OP, ignore/ block him and breathe a massive sigh of relief! Enjoy life without this colossal prick.

There are too many reasons to go through them all that clearly show he is a terrible choice partner. He put his hands on you in anger. He cheated on you. Marriage is quid pro quo?!? No no no. Etc etc etc.

Well done for standing up for yourself and getting rid. Forget about bothering to email him. Silence is the most eloquent message here.

AgentJohnson · 28/04/2020 10:08

He’s never going to be the man you want him to be. He sounds like an arrogant arsehole and you should absolutely not contact him.

Comps83 · 28/04/2020 10:08

That still doesn't mean you won't meet someone else . Even if you don't it's still better to be on your own than with a petulant manboy.
I was single for vast swathes of my adult life and tbh I'd probably scoff if someone had told me I could do better and always thought the 'plenty of fish in the sea' quote is bollocks
But ppl are right when they say silence is the best thing . He sounds awful

Eeyoresstickhouse · 28/04/2020 10:08

You would be a fool to establish anymore contact. He has shown you and told you who he really is. Believe him. He cheated in you, shouts at you and laid hands on you. He really isn't a prince charming.

You have been there for him, and this is the repayment you get? This says all you need to know that you need to block all contact with him and move on. It will hurt for a while but work on your self esteem and realise you dont need someone like this in your life.