Yet I had secretly been using his harshest words against myself.

Weak.

Foolish.

Dependent.

The realization was uncomfortable because it was mine to address.

I could not submit a motion asking a judge to remove those words from my thoughts.

We talked long into the evening.

My mother told me about arguments in her own marriage that I had never witnessed, about the times she stayed silent to keep the peace and regretted it later.