It's not about pedestals. It's not about turning a blind eye to a person's faults or weaknesses. It's about defining a person by something other than the things they are ashamed of.
But until that person does the same they will tend to think you have romanticised them. I mean, they've seen it all before, someone who was smitten until they knew the full story. As the truth comes out everything just falls apart. And that's what they expected. They never felt like they deserved to be treated as something special anyway.
I don't mind being misunderstood. I have stood the test of time before. Goodness is stronger than evil, and love stronger than hate. This I learned not from poetry but from life.
you keep telling me i'm beautiful
but i feel a little less so each time
your love is so colorful
it flashes like a neon sign
but i finally drove out where
the sky is dark enuf to see stars
and i found i missed no one
just listening to the swishing of distant cars
– Ani DiFranco