I love you. You were created for me and I for you. However, there are some problems in our house. Things that keep us apart. A lot are my fault, but I can't pretend that you don't bare some of the blame as well.

I know that I haven't always been around to raise our children. I am sorry. I was wrong. I should have stayed and took care of my responsibilities. But I, like you, was immature. You had to grow up because of the baby. I had to as well, but it was easier to shift the burden to you. I am sorry. I was a boy trying to prove my manhood with my manhood. I was wrong to do that to you.

But I am a man now. A new man. A different man. I know that our choice to have sex before we knew what love was and my choice to avoid my responsibility, caused you to have to take on roles not meant for you. You had to be both the father and the mother. The provider and the caretaker. I am sorry.

But I am back now. A new man. A grown Man. And I need you to shed the hard-shell that you developed to deal with our problems and my failure. Trying to be an "independant" woman and a Father and a Caregiver and a Provider and everything else made you hard. Coarse. Rough. I need you to be soft. Gentle. Loving. I need you to depend on me as a man. As your man.

You see, I have learned in my travel to manhood, that I am a Man, and as a man I need a woman, not an "independant" woman. I marvel at your academic acumen and business savvy. I do. I trust and value your opinion. I do. But I don't need you to run the household. That is my job. I don't need you to provide for our family. That's my job too. I don't need you to fight the world for our survivial. Yes, that's my job too. I wasn't man enough to pick up my mantle, but I am a Man now and have ascended to my rightful place.

What I need you to do is to rest. To relax and let me take care of you. I need you to trust me. That I am a man who will always try to make the best decisions for us. I need you to realize that my manhood is tied up in your ability to depend upon me and my ability to keep coming through for you. I need someone who will hold me at night, feeling safe in my arms, because you know that I am doing my best to make everything alright. I need a friend who listens and gives gentle advice but doesn't tell me what to do.

Simply put, I need you. I need you. I need you. And I need you....to need me.

You can't blame all men for what I put you through when I was a young boy and you a young girl. Nor can you blame me for your choosing me (and I was a poor choice then). That was your doing. See, I have learned. You can't have it all. You can't have a "playa" or a "ruffneck" or a "thug" and a Man at the same time. You have tried all of those flavors and look at how much pain I have caused you. You need to choose better. You want a man in your life to treat you like a lady, yet you choose all the immature versions of me and then blame me for your choices. Look at me now, as a MAN. This is what we have to teach our daughters to choose and our sons to be.

So forgive me for the pain I have caused you in my youth. But I am a man now and I love you.

Always....