That moment of realising.

So, yeah, it was something someone on Sunday said that I didn't really think about at the time, however last night I gave it some more thought. I was just hanging out with my family and chatting and my Brother just randomly ask if I got a birthday card from my Dad.
I didn't.
At that time, I was just mixed emotions, I felt sad mostly, because, as much as I say that my father is useless and doesn't care, I know he probably does deep down, but he's just never shown it. Also, I'm first to admit he's been a crap father,  but he's always sent a birthday card or text just to say it, y'know? And I'd always reply with a quick and polite 'Thank-you' and move on.
I suppose I've got to the point where I get polite and move on, 'cos I've always felt let down and hurt by my father. He's always just dropped both me and my brother when it's suited him (whether he knows it or not) and I don't really want to let it happen again. I don't believe him when he says it wouldn't happen again, cos it always has, only this time, he's never said it again.
I think it might be the end of a relationship with him. I say it more now than I ever will because I have my own family and I won't allow him to do the same to my child as he did to me as a child. I won't allow him to make false promises, hugs, kisses and 'I love yous' to my son, nor to me anymore.
I guess in that moment that I realised, that my father had no thought or presence on my birthday is the day I've realised that I've become my own woman and have moved on with that failed relationship and hurt. That email I wrote to him before Freddie's birthday, did the world of good for me, it's the end of that chapter, the end of him.