Just because you got your words out first doesn’t make you right.

Just because she chooses not to throw hurtful words back at you doesn’t mean you won the argument.

And just because she’s crying doesn’t mean she’s wrong.

Do you really think she wants to spend the day with swollen, red eyes? Do you really think she enjoys carrying the weight of words that cut deeper than you intended? Or that she’s crying just to manipulate you into admitting she’s right?

Sometimes, she’s simply hurt.

I’ve never understood why we speak to the people we claim to love as though they’re the enemy. Why say things you know are meant to wound? Words are one of the few things you can never take back. You can apologize, but you can’t erase the memory of how they made someone feel.

Then, moments later, you smile and expect everything to go back to normal.

Not everyone has that luxury.

Some of us replay those words over and over again. We hear them the same way we heard them the first time. We question ourselves. We wonder what we did to deserve them. We carry them long after you’ve forgotten you even said them.

To you, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

To her, it was everything.

Sometimes it’s not just the words. it was your tone. The way you said them. The anger behind them. The ease with which they came out.

And somehow, because you were angry, you felt justified.

Maybe you were.

Or maybe you just forgot that the person standing in front of you deserved kindness too.

But who am I to say?

I’m just a woman.