People often learn their biggest lessons through heartbreak, especially when they don’t realize the role they played in it.

One father had watched his son ignore his long-distance girlfriend’s effort for months while insisting nothing needed to change.

So when the relationship inevitably ended, this father refused to sugarcoat for his son what really happened.

Keep reading to find out how it all played out.

AITA for telling my son he basically caused his own breakup?

My son never once went to see his long-distance lover, who came to visit him nearly every month.

He refused to try despite my constant encouragement, in part because my wife insisted that she was afraid of his flying.

Eventually, the relationship ended, and the girlfriend is now seeing someone else.

So instead of just placating his son, he decided to tell the hard truth.

I explained to my kid that I knew why she had left and that he was to blame for it because he had made no attempt to maintain the connection.

He and my wife are now furious with me.

AITA for expressing it?

This is tough love in action.

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

Long-distance relationships take an unbelievable amount of effort to maintain, and both parties have to be down for that.

His wife is feeling a little attacked, which is why she reacted so poorly.

His son really needs to learn the truth whether it stings or not.

Maybe it’s time his son work out his over-dependence on his mother.

Sure, the truth hurt, but being forever stuck in his dysfunctional ways would have caused even more hurt and heartbreak in the future.

Tough love is still love.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.