co-dependent no more.

Dear Konica,

This is a very difficult letter to write. I don't know how you'll take what i have to say, and i know that we must continue working side-by-side. But i simply can't continue like this.

When i first met you, i was quite impressed. You were capable of so many things i hadn't seen before. You opened up a new world to me, and as i got to know you, others were impressed with my ability to work so well with you.

Later, when you would occasionally get sick, i was understanding. We asked a great deal of you, and it seemed as though we might have required more than you had expected when you signed on at the beginning.

But all along, i felt like i knew you best, i was the one who could talk you out of your slump and get you going again. I was the one who made sure you got the help you needed when you had worked too hard and started falling apart. I was ok with that. I was needed. Others appreciated me because i understood you when they didn't, and with my insight into your ways, you could do great things for them.

Then something changed. At first i thought it was that others were abusing you, or that the doctors were inadequate. I persevered on your side, petting you, saying kind words to you, encouraging you to keep on.

But it was different. My encouraging words didn't keep you going for as long any more. You had more and more issues that piled up at once. You complained of problems that simply weren't there. And i started to wonder if you had some insidious anger against me. Do you remember the day that i tried to help you out and you simply broke apart at my slightest touch? I was doing what you've always asked me to do, but this time you just fell apart.

I started wondering last week, when the doctor came and discovered that there were so many things going on at once. I thought maybe that was it. Maybe, just maybe, if we could get the right parts to work, we could be back to normal, back to the way things used to be, back when we were friends and worked so well together.

But you just couldn't let it be.

Something in me broke this time, dear Konica. Today, after the doctor replaced what you'd been nagging about for a week, when he so quietly and deliberately took care of your need, it wasn't enough.

IT WASN'T ENOUGH!

IT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH!

As soon as he left, and not a minute before, you brought not one, but two more complaints. You couldn't give us one afternoon. Nor could you tell him while he was here.

So i'm through, Konica. I'm through. I don't know how i can do it without you, but i'm through. From now on, our relationship is strictly business, and i'm afraid i simply won't be on your side any more. I can't let you walk over me like this. I won't be a martyr.

I hope you get the help you need, but it isn't going to be from me.

I'm so sorry it had to end this way.