Frustration? Challenges? Frustrations with Challenges?

I broke up with a gal once, I didn't do it well. I was rather harsh. But I was frustrated and I let my frustrations out on her. What's funny is that she always thought I was mad or angry . . . but I wasn't. And she made it worse by thinking that I was mad. She would come back tentatively. 

That was what made me most frustrated. I wasn't upset until she thought I was upset. 

What was worse . . . she wanted to only hear about the good. I wanted to fix things, I wanted to get to the bottom of our challenges, she wanted to pretend they didn't exist. I was ready to discuss why I was frustrated, she wanted to pretend it was all fine. 

What I found most funny . . . if she had just been more upfront, we might have still made it. 

For example, I spouted off, not because I was angry, but because she came back and just took for granted that I'd be there same as always. I think she wrote just one word and expected that to be everything that was needed. 

If she had written and actual letter, if she had expressed herself and owned things, it would have been better. 

Then, I promised not to let her see my frustrations. She should have said no right then. It might not be fun to hear that someone is frustrated with you, but at least when they're angry or frustrated with you, you know where they stand. If I said to her, "I won't get mad at you again" she should say back, "no, I want to know when you're upset. If not, then how can you fix anything? How can you resolve anything? I don't want someone I care about to pretend everything is fine, I want to know when they're upset so I can fix things, or help ameliorate the problem. 

Then this brings up the challenge of Mars and Venus that we've discussed here before, right? Men want to fix things, women want to talk about things. So who knows. 

I just thought that was funny, that old girlfriend and the frustrations and challenges we had. I guess nothing is perfect.