Young man tears up remembering ‘love’ he let ‘slip away’: ‘I waited too long…’

Many of us might have had the bittersweet experience of the one that got away — a love that was left incomplete or just didn’t work out. A man named Jake Scott was asked about this love that he let “slip away” during a street interview shared by @cupe.connect. While there are varied reasons for not ending up with that one person we loved with all our hearts, the pain still has its hold on us for a long time. This man, too, was instantly caught up in the love and heartbreak, sharing his tear-jerking past. “When was the last time you encountered someone you let slip away?” Scott was asked. Taking a deep breath, Scott immediately knew who he had in mind. The story is a relatable one that moved many to tears.

Speaking of the one he loved, Scott described her in the most precious way. “You could pick her in a crowd. She’s tall, gorgeous, and blonde. She has blue eyes, is a good friend, and has a laugh that echoes through the room,” he poetically noted. Nan Wise, a sex therapist, neuroscientist, and relationship expert, explained why losing an important relationship is so heart-wrenching, per Glamour. “The oldest part of our brain, which we share with all mammals and many other animals, has a circuit of brain regions — the panic-grief-sadness system — that gets activated when we experience the loss of an important relationship,” she explained.

She added that this system “creates painful withdrawal-like symptoms: an ache in the heart, overwhelming sadness and despair, ruminations, regrets, and diminished enthusiasm for life.” Rachel DeAlto, chief dating expert for Match, further noted that the amount of pain is connected with the amount of love the person had. “It depends on the individual, but the one that hurts the most is the one that was most invested,” she said. 

Scott mentioned that he was and still is in love with his best friend. However, he never revealed his feelings out of the fear of “ruining” the friendship they shared. “I got really scared. For years, I thought it was one-sided,” he explained. However, eventually, he started receiving hints and decided to act on them. Scott then revealed the most heartbreaking reality that followed. “I told her I loved her and she told me she loved me but at that time, I waited too long,” he said. Trying to shrug off the feeling and fighting back tears, the young man mentioned that the woman had already gotten into a relationship, and it was too late for them to be together.

With all the memories, expectations, love, and pain flooding back, the young man was unable to hold back his tears. The weight of it all was crushing him, but he still tried to fight it off with a smile. He took deep breaths and said that even today, when he thinks of sending her a message, he types it out, screenshots it, saves it in a folder, and then deletes it. The duo went no contact after they expressed their love, and it’s a painstaking reality many have to face. @levivianconte said, “I totally hope I'm lucky enough to have someone love me this much one day. Like, that’s actually so beautiful.” @mattheuschettini remarked, “Somebody give this man a hug.” @bellyach3s wrote, “I respect the yearning.”

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