Some of you went story mode, so I will give one of mine as well -
When I was stationed in Germany, I was with a woman for a little over 2 years. We both hated the fact that I was PCsing (transitioning) back to the US, and she would be going to do some contract work in another part of the world for the German government. They needed Russian speakers for her position in particular and were adamant of her service. I knew it was not going to work. But it was legitimately the first time I had ever been romantically in love with another person, not just liking the person and loving the sex.
Her and I talked about it, and she was trying to find different ways to make it work. Each conversation, I knew I was not for it. So it lingered on, and it was painful seeing her try to make strong points of how it could work. She advocated that I should leave the military and I could move with her, she even brought marriage up. Immediately I told her no, and that I could not leave the Army just to be with her.
None of what I said sounds terrible, it was what I did after. I told her "lets just finish our time together strong, before you and I leave," and she reluctantly agreed. It was a vague "relationship." I should have just ended everything. It was a bitch-ass thing I did. I emotionally withdrew from the romance. As her time came to leave (she would coincidentally leave first out of Gemany), I began missing talking with other women like I had been doing when I first came out there. I made the bitch-ass excuse to "cement" the fact that we were leaving to start canceling out on dates to do my own bullshit. I talked with other women on the side up at the last bit before she left. It was incredibly selfish, at my convenience I was enjoying her time, the sex, still traveling around, still was in her circle of friends when I should have just ended everything and began to focus on coming back to the US. As each month came before she left first, and then I left, it was taking a toll on her, but she never really told me about it until the very end. I always feel guilty thinking about that shit.
What is important to me though, I think she has moved on.
Whenever I complain too much about a woman I'm with not being considerate, I should remind myself of the bullshit I used to be on.