[April Masini, your AskApril]

I think that it’s quite likely that your answer lies in this sentence, “Admittedly, he had alluded to these things about a month before this, but I don’t take hints very well.”

Your boyfriend was trying to tell you that his needs were not being met and that you two needed to work together to get your relationship back on track. You weren’t taking the hint when he expressed his feeling subtly, so he sought a more dramatic approach which succeeded in shocking you into action, or should I say reaction.

Based upon what you’ve described you two have a pretty solid relationship and if this was the first time something like this has happened, I would chalk it up to a very important lesson learned…. Your relationship fell victim to what most relationships fall victim to — stress, pressure and taking each other and the relationship for granted.

The good news is that you both appear to have refocused your energies on trying to meet one another’s needs and have found a renewed appreciation for your relationship and each other. Congratulations.

Relationships take work and they need to be “feed” continually in order to thrive (and survive).

If you try and keep in mind the top five emotional needs a man seeks to obtain from his mate, I’ll bet this won’t happen again. Here they are: Sexual Fulfillment, Recreational Companionship, Physical Attractiveness, Domestic Support and Admiration.