The Tenderness of HonestyBy Annette Camp September 10, 2025 
I said too much,too soon, and the word love slipped out of me like breath I couldn’t hold.
You left it unanswered,a weight pressed against my chest,the simple expression of good night cut deep.
I erased the text,as if deletion could rewrite the moment,as if feelings vanishwhen pulled back into the shadow.But they don’t.They live, they ache,they insist on being heard.
And then came your apology for the silence.It was enough to remind me that we are trying,fumbling forward,learning how to stand in the tenderness of honesty.
It makes my heart singwhen we step into thisopen communication together, laying down what is fragile, even when it’s uncomfortableor painful. It is real.
I love that about us,the pause to reflect what that means for ourselves, as well as in the dynamic of us.
Here, between the words,is where we build somethingstrong and steady —the pause before response,the owning of what stings,the reaching for forgiveness.
I hope in the warmth of your presence, we can carry this understanding into the space beyond screens, where silence is a moment meant for gathering what is true before we place it in each other’s hands.