Today is November 4, 2026 and as I sit at my desk, staring at an open Word document, I have to ask myself one thing:

Where have I been all summer?

I opened this page in May, wrote two posts, and disappeared. This isn’t exactly how I am supposed to begin a website and page dedicated to sharing the story of my life and building encouragement in others. I actually have to write if I am going to accomplish what I intend to do with this page.

Instead of spending my summer writing on my page, sharing my story, responding to reddit posts, and developing ideas, I made a huge mistake. I gave too much to someone who didn’t deserve it. Just how did this happen? I ignored the red flags.

I met a guy through Facebook Dating, an actual guy. Amidst all the scammers and fakers, I actually met a real person this past summer, right around the time I wrote the second post on this page. I thought he was a good guy. He seemed alright. There were lots of things to like about him. He graduated from high school and college. He has a good work ethic. He’s not afraid to do the work for what he needs. He believes in Jesus (not a negotiable requirement). I liked him.

I thought he liked me. I made sure he knew I haven’t finished college yet. The ever-elusive bachelor’s degree is on hold yet again due to a combination of financial and health setbacks. Heart surgery and the symptoms leading up to it did not help with that. I made sure he knew I want to finish school and I have goals for my career and life I would like to accomplish. I made sure he knew I want to dive into content creation and blogging, exploring creative avenues.

He never once told me any of my ambitions and goals were a problem for him. That is, in itself, the problem. The red flags were flying in everything he didn’t say. While he never said he had a problem with anything I wanted, he never said anything supportive either. He wasn’t directly critical. Instead, he found a way to occupy my time and energy to the point I let myself slide from writing here. I willingly gave him my time and energy because, for a moment, I thought he was interested in me as a person and potential partner in life. I didn’t realize in the first few weeks I was giving into his red flags.

I gave him my time. I gave him my energy. I gave him my attention. He didn’t value any of that enough to put away those red flags and work on building a relationship.

Now. Those are things he just doesn’t get.