Erin,  part of the healing process, is to also forgive.... you do this for yourself... so YOU CAN love again, which by the way includes trust... To say, I will never give my heart is to say, I will never live fully again... part of life is falling in love, at any age.. unless you want to become a spinster! You are much to caring of a person to go down that road! Erin, I think in the Next relationship maybe we will not give our trust so easily, it should be earned, and even once it is earned, its work to keep it, I will not trust blindly again.... lol  I think why so many didn't agree with sending the letter is that we really have been conditioned in a way to "protect" the depressed person... My goodness, if you add more stress, you will loose your chance of them coming back to you, or you may push them over the edge..... so keep your feelings to yourself, at all cost,,, (even if its your sanity, lol) Always be positive, stroke their ego, make them FEEL loved, don't argue with them, let them be right, So obviously hitting send went against everything we have been "taught " in dealing with an Depressed partner.... But at the end of the day... you have to speak up... for your own sake... I remember the last two years, when I knew something was wrong, but he nor I knew it was a depression... I walked on egg shells... for 3-5 weeks... and then like a volcano, I couldn't hold it in... I had to open conversations, which always sent him running... I would have exploded if I didn't get the chance to put my views, my feelings, my questions  out there.... I am not a robot... you can just program to be quiet...