Was I a good partner, or was I a bad partner? Did I hurt him, or did he hurt me? Was the great tragedy of our relationship that we’d been doomed from the start, or that we veered off track somewhere, quietly, imperceptibly, and were too far gone by the time we’d realized it? On some days, I was certain that he hadn’t loved me enough; on others, I... See more

Our breakup was so protracted, in part, because our story was so, so good, and I wanted so badly for the story of our relationship to be the story of my life — doing the dishes in the nighttime, his hands over my eyes when we watched horror movies, the love songs I wrote him on our anniversary. A math prodigy and a writer. Our children would have... See more

All relationships are built on boundaries that both keep in and keep out. I had wanted an in-betweenness, but perhaps only because we couldn’t and didn’t cross the traditional boundaries.

If it weren’t for the circumstances, we might have fallen into a conventional romance. I’m afraid I’m only trying so hard to find an ambiguous fourth category for... See more