How's life going?

How could one simple question cause so much anxiety, pain, and even a little anger?

I emailed my ex yesterday to ask for a bicycle rack that we had bought together. If he wasn't using it, I would like to have it because I want to get a new bike and be able to take it places.  Simple question, right?  Good news is that I can have it, so I don't have to buy a new one. Yay! But he ended the email with, "How's life going?"

I emailed him before going to bed last night and completely forgot about until I checked my email right before lunch today. As soon as I saw his name in my inbox, my palms got sweaty, and my heart started beating super fast.  First of all, it was really hard for me to even email him at all because we have not spoken since I broke up with him. Anytime I've needed anything from him or something of mine that he had, I always spoke with his mom; she always relayed the message for me.

Second, why does he really care? Why the sudden concern? Yes, we dated and for a while at that.  But ... he completely and totally broke my heart.  I was destroyed and betrayed. He did the one thing he promised me he would never do.  Plus, I tried to break up with him; he begged to get back together, and I took him back.  He, then, completely broke my heart by cheating on me about a month after that. He didn't care enough about me at that point to have the decency to break up with me before going out with that girl. Plus, why couldn't he have let me go when we first broke up? Why put me through the pain of being cheated on  when he had been (sorta) through the same thing?

Lastly, I wanted to write him back and be really nasty. I wanted to say, "Thanks, much better now that you're out of my life." That wouldn't have been a lie, though.  Instead, I said "Life is great. Thanks." I have to admit that I'm surprised at the fact that I had these emotions running through me. I'm a little surprised that I got such a big reaction out that "How's life going?"

Even though the break up caused A LOT of pain and hurt, I'm thankful that I went through that. Because of the experiences I had with David, I am now a much stronger person. I learned a lot about myself and grew into, what I think, the person I'm supposed to be.  I can now stand up for what I believe in without compromising my morals.  I have a lot more self esteem and now believe in myself.  I believe that I deserve good things and don't have to settle.  Lastly, even though I like being in a relationship and love the companionship that comes out of it, I don't have to be in one to be happy.  The old me would have settled for the first guy that showed interest. Instead, I've gone out on a lot of dates over the past 6-7 months and have--attempted--to figure out what's important to me in a relationship.  So, for that, I'm grateful that I went through what I did. Lastly, I feel like I'm ready to date for the right reasons.