A few years ago, when I was still dating my ex, we got a dog together. We both loved Douglas equally, loved each other, everything was great. Years later, relationship headed south, I ended up moving out. Let him keep Douglas because it made him happy, and I felt terribly guilty for almost solely causing our relationship to collapse. Tried to babysit him from time to time, but seeing the ex was getting harder and harder, so eventually I stopped seeing Douglas as well. Then one day I get a call, my ex boyfriend tells me that he thinks Douglas is depressed. The ex was super busy with school at this point and working two jobs, so he asked me to take Douglas forever. I told him that I would, and that he could see Doug whenever he wanted. Later, the ex got into a new relationship that started out great, but his girlfriend was the jealous type and didn't want him to have contact with me. I knew it hurt him to not be able to see his dog anymore. That, and the guilt of "not being good enough" (his words, not mine) to keep him in the first place. We ended up on bad terms, both of our faults. He's not dating the girl anymore, I'm engaged to someone else now, and I still have Douglas. But what keeps me up at night is knowing that this probably keeps him up at night. And that after a year of being apart, I know that Douglas would absolutely love to see him again. I have been tempted so many times to call him and let him know that if he ever wants to pick him up and take him to the park or something, he can. But there's no use opening up old wounds, and I'm not sure he could handle having to give him up to me again. That being said, Douglas is very happy here, and I take great care of him. I guess sometimes I can be too nostalgic.