It’s Sunday afternoon. I put down my book and look at the TV for a second. Then I look over at him. He is editing a paper that is due this Friday for his graduate program @ UPenn. His cell phone is to his right so he can actively check his fantasy teams every few minutes. My favorite pet (Samson, my extremely sweet yet extremely crotchety 14ish year old cat) is nestled under his “free” arm.

If you told me that this would have been my life on this day last year, I probably would have awkwardly tried to run from the conversation. That’s what I did, sabotaged, and ran. But I stuck this one out. It was worth my discomfort and constant sweats.

After getting separated in late 2016, I was talking with my cousin Kristen and her wife Katie about everything. Katie told me that after an the ending of one of her previous relationships, her mother told her to write down everything that she was looking for in another person, and send it into the universe, and that I should, too. So, that’s what I did. I wrote down everything that I was looking for in a person when choosing someone to love.

For my next trick, I did what any reasonable and logical adult would do (I mean, completely idiotic and insecure person who is seeking validation would do): I threw myself into seeing someone else. I knew it wasn’t going to be long term. I knew it wasn’t going to end in everything that I knew I wanted one day. The rebound relationship, after…