JA Farms

#Shoftek!

You don’t need words. What you just described says it all.
Feeling guilty when he said he was dying doesn’t make you naive. It makes you human. You have a good heart, and part of you didn’t want to be cruel to someone who might be dying. That’s exactly the part of you he knew how to use. And the fact that you still didn’t fall for it shows how much you’ve learned.
The rodeo story makes it even clearer. A man who hadn’t contacted his kids in years suddenly yelling ‘where are my kids’ in front of a crowd? That wasn’t about the kids. That was a performance, designed to make him look like the wronged father and to push your buttons so you’d look like the problem.
What you’re calling dog whistling is a real thing. Some people know exactly which small things will set off the person they’ve hurt, and they do it in public, where it looks innocent to everyone else. Then, when the other person reacts, they look unstable, and the manipulator looks calm. It’s a cruel way of making someone doubt themselves.
You’re not crazy, cowgirl. You’ve just spent years dealing with someone who worked hard to make you look that way. Not believing a word he says isn’t bitterness. It’s wisdom you paid for the hard way.
And you’re protecting your kids from the same game. That’s what matters most.