The strange, empty feeling that comes with leaving a bad relationship behind

It's very hard to leave people behind. No matter how much neglect or even outright bad treatment was involved in what was supposed to be a close relationship, the decision to move on produces an odd feeling of emptiness.

You'd think that finally moving on from someone who held you back for years would produce  a feeling of joyous liberation. It doesn't. It leaves you empty and lonely.

The solution, of course, is to move on, to fill the vacuum. But even though you can see that ..,

PS: I was intentionally vague in this post so as to keep the relationship in question a secret. It occurs to me rereading it this morning that this discretion on my part might have the unintended effect of making it seem like I'm discussing my marriage. I'm not.