*Don't read this one*

To the man I've never met

You don't know me, and I don't know you. I will never meet you. But, for all I know, we could have brushed shoulders before, walked by each other on the street or driven past each other in some small-town dusk. We breathed the same Midwest air. We probably had the same hopes and dreams for our lives. But, mostly, we had her in common – the girl you've spent your life with. 

I'm glad you got the girl. I'm happy that you got to spend the best years of your life with her. I'm sure she made you happy, made your life easier, made your world complete with the babies she gave you. She made you you as much as you made you you. She was the best part of your life – a living, walking, breathing gem of a woman. You were blessed beyond all men I've ever known. You had the woman of my dreams. Heck, you had the woman of any man's dreams. 

It wasn't enough for you. I wonder if any woman would have been enough for you. I don't know if you were just greedy or if you were touched in the head. There are all kinds of girls you could have fooled around on; you don't do that to the good ones. What you did to her will never be undone. What you've taken will never be replaced. Girls like her don't come along every day. 

Yet, I know there's a part of her that will always want you back, regardless of the terms. You've owned her in a way I've never seen before. The way she loves you is so rare, such a miracle. I guess you knew you could get away with whatever you wanted. Because she would love you no matter what. As much as I want to hate you for that, I'm just simply in awe. 

Your children, your beautiful children. I wonder if you thought of them while you were with those other women. I wonder if you saw their little faces tucked in at night. Your baby girl, can you imagine some boy doing her the way you're doing her mom right now? Can you see her face, too, in the dark as she's wondering where you are, who you're with, when you'll be home, why isn't she enough? 

I wonder if you foresaw all the pain you have brought on your wife, your family, her family, your family, and yourself. Did you expect this day to come? Was it worth it? I know you loved your wife and children. I would never question that. Maybe you were just blindly led about by your lusts. Maybe you thought things would go on as they always had. Maybe you lied to yourself enough that you really didn't see any of this coming. Or maybe you just didn't think at all. I guess it doesn't matter now. 

What I do know is whatever you gained was nothing compared to what you lost. Whatever pleasure you had pales in comparison to the pain you've brought about. Whatever temporary needs you filled in yourself gouged great holes in the ones around you forever. 

I'm jealous of you, of course, and that's my only tie to you now. You had the perfect woman and the perfect life. You embodied what I strove my whole life for but could never have. You lived with and loved the girl of my dreams. You gave her the two most important people in her life. You're a legend in her heart. The memories you made together swirl in her head and heart.

When you made love to her, she thought only of you. I wonder what you were thinking about. When you told her you were in love with another woman, I wonder what her face looked like as you told her that, when the bombs dropped, when her heart nearly stopped, when her world stopped turning, when you broke your promise to love only her. 

There's a hate in your actions I don't understand. This woman gave you everything she had. She built a life with you, and you tore it down. 

There are things here I will never understand. That's okay. It's none of my business anyway. I have to walk away from this whole thing just as you do and try to make something out of myself. Maybe that's where your head is right now. Instead of looking back, you're looking forward. I wish you the best of luck, man-I'll-never-know; I hope you realize how beautiful your life has been and how incredibly blessed you are to have experienced what you had. I'm truly sorry it had to end for all of you like this. I'm sorry this was your great fault and not, say, something like gambling. I wouldn't be having this pseudo-conversation with you. 

That woman belongs to you. She gave herself to you. I hope you remember that because, in all of your lying, I'm sure you've told yourself a few. If you don't remember anything else, then at least remember that. It was probably the only real thing you've had.