Without hope, life would be dark, cold and full of despair. Hope is the light which guides us in our darkest hour; it is the light which warms the hearts of others.Often people will snuff out that light, whether intentionally or unintentionally. For you, I believe it was unintentional. It’s true that your trust and your mother’s trust were betrayed. It’s true that it ripped open a wound that still stings to the touch, and it’s up to you whether you want to let that wound keep bleeding or whether you want to let it heal over.I’d argue that your hopes were not dashed, because you never placed any hope in him. You placed your trust, and that was betrayed, but your hope is a separate matter. However, I do not know how the situation evolved, so I could be wrong.I’ve tried walking down the path of emotional numbness. While, I couldn’t feel pain, I soon realized that I couldn’t feel happy. After a while, it hurt more to know that I wasn’t happy than the remains of that wound which had healed over. I regret the time in my life which I had closed myself off to people.Lastly, I’d like to leave you with an encouraging thought. People often sell themselves short. They believe that they cannot do something when they can. So I’d like to say that you, of all people, have the strength to bear that pain. It really is a matter of deciding if you want to accept what happened, or continue in a world of numbness. Emotional wounds are a lot like real wounds, you have to clean them up, otherwise they may become infected. But it hurts like hell when you use disinfectant, and sometimes you think you can’t take the pain. At the end of the day, nevertheless, a clean wound heals faster and let’s you return to your, admitted changed, but happy ways.