Abby Jimenez Just For The Summer Quotes

In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy,

You're not asking too much," he said. "You were just asking the wrong person. Ask me instead.

You are not what happened to you. You are what you do next.

Sometimes the best way to show love or be kind to someone is to meet them where they are.

Maybe home isn’t a place. Maybe it’s a person.

Not everything that comes out of crisis is bad. Sometimes your traumas are the reason you know how to help.

Be glad you don’t get it. It means your life has been a lot gentler than hers.

What are you thinking?” I asked. He didn’t answer for a long moment. When he did, he did it with his eyes closed. “All I ever think about is you.

The love stories sold us the wrong thing. The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast so she can have the last middle piece for her sandwich when you pack her lunch. Making sure her car always has gas so she never has to stop at the pump. Telling her you’re not cold and to take your jacket when you are in fact, very, very cold. It’s watching TV on a rainy Sunday while you’re doing laundry and turning her light off when she’s fallen asleep reading. Sharing pizza crusts and laughing about something the kids did and taking care of each other when you’re sick. It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.

Unhealed trauma is a crack. And all the little hard things that trickle into it that would have rolled off someone else, settle. Then when life gets cold, that crack gets bigger, longer, deeper. It makes new breaks. You don’t know how broken she was or what she was trying to do to fill those cracks. Being broken is not an excuse for bad behavior, you still have to make good choices and do the right thing. But it can be the reason. And sometimes understanding the reason can be what helps you heal.

To me, love meant you stayed. But now I understood that love sometimes means you let someone go.

The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about.

I swear to God this guy is the epitome of If He Wanted To He Would.

Sometimes I feel like the seasons could come and go and come and go, a hundred years could pass, a thousand, the ground could collapse under us, this house could crumble and go back to the earth, and we would still be standing here frozen in time, because every second I’m with you is eternal. I’ve never felt anything like it.

It’s funny how when you find someone you like as much as I liked her, the destination is suddenly wherever they are. Even if there’s someplace better, you wouldn’t go if they couldn’t come.

I do love Trader Joe’s,” I said, smiling at the bag. “Nothing like a grocery store that makes you have to visit another grocery store right after.

I’ve been waiting my whole life to feel like this and I thought it was a curse that nobody else ever worked out. But it wasn’t. It’s just that they weren’t you.

Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore. But if you don’t think your life would be better without them in it, then accept that they have cracks. Try to understand how they got them and help fill them with something that isn’t ice.” She peered at me. “If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin. It’s so much healthier than anger.

Because when you’re in love, you do hard things.

He’s gone, Justin. May God rest his soul.” I blinked at her. “Your boyfriend died?” “He’s dead to me.

This is the thing nobody tells you about The One. How they’re timeless. How the moment they pop up again you’re right back in it, right where you left off.

The moment Emma came into view, my entire world slipped into slow motion. My brain took a screenshot. I felt the moment freeze and save. She was beautiful.

The best kind of love doesn't happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life.

You’re not asking too much,” he said. “You were just asking the wrong person. Ask me instead.

Justin was on the island. Not the real one. The one in my soul.

I like you more than I’ve ever liked anyone too.” He paused. “I like you more than like.” We held each other’s gaze. “I like you more than like too,” I said quietly.

Drink some water.” “Water?” Leigh said. “That stuff that killed everyone on the Titanic?

Tell me your day today from start to finish.

I think you went through something horrible and that’s who you needed to become to get through it.

What if the universe listened? What if you or your mom or the kids were supposed to die in a car crash and your dad said ‘Take me instead’—and the universe did. And nobody remembers the way it was supposed to be because that’s the deal. You never get to know that he’s a hero. The fates are reversed and the tribute takes the thing he asked for to save someone he loves. If you think of it that way, instead of being sad that he’s gone, be happy that he got what he wanted. And that somebody loved you enough to take your place.

Being broken is not an excuse for bad behavior, you still have to make good choices and do the right thing. But it can be the reason. And sometimes understanding the reason can be what helps you heal.

I'm going to let that tall drink of water slam me like a door.

It was like there was no peaceful place to exist, no emotional safe space. I could have chaos, or I could have worry. I could be in the tornado, or I could be in the eye. But I could never be out of the storm. It was so, so exhausting to live this way

We do not go out of our way for men. We do not inconvenience ourselves for men, we do not change our well-laid plans for men. No.

I want you to know that your empathy is beautiful, Emma. I hope you never lose that. I do hope that one day you get some boundaries though.

Unhealed trauma is a crack. And all the little hard things that trickle into it that would have rolled off someone else, settle. Then when life gets cold, that crack gets bigger, longer, deeper. It makes new breaks.

I think something is wrong with me. Like there’s something in me, in my heart, that doesn’t work right.

You don’t have to forgive her. You really don’t. You can still love someone that you’ve decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore. But if you don’t think your life would be better without them in it, then accept that they have cracks. Try to understand how they got them and help fill them with something that isn’t ice.” She peered at me. “If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin. It’s so much healthier than anger. For both of you.

Because you needed me," he said simply. "I will always come when you call.

You can still love someone that you’ve decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore.

It was easier to pretend to be angry and tough than to admit to being devastated and heartbroken. And by the practiced way she wielded attitude, she'd been devastated and heartbroken for a long time.

You can tell a lot about a guy by how they deal with rejection and getting their asses handed to them.

I don’t need anyone. And I know that sounds sort of terrible, but it’s actually comforting to know that I have this ability to need no one. It feels like a superpower. Like I’m untouchable.

Home is something that’s always there, I realized. No matter where you are in the world, you know it’s where you left it, unchanged and waiting.

I’m not superstitious.” I heard him suck air through his teeth. “I’m a little stitious.

I thought about what Emma said once. That framing is everything. That if you can frame the terrible things in the best possible way, that’s where true happiness comes from.

Because when you’re in love, you do hard things. And nothing about anything was easy right now.

I’ll reverse image search it.” “Oh, good thinking. Okay, hold on.” I sent it to her. She sat back down and started thumbing into her phone, and I went back to finish my food. “Found him,” Maddy said, after about forty-five seconds. I gawked. “That fast???” “The FBI should hire more women. We’re natural investigators.

Why not forgive? In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin.

You’re like a docking station for small vulnerable dependents.” “Well, we all need a job.” She laughed.

You can love someone and still not be willing to give up your way of life for them. And then there are those you love who you’d take a bullet for.

I wanted him to hold me after. To wake up with me in the morning and eat cereal in my bed while we watched TV. I wanted to see his pajamas on Christmas morning and find out what he looked like with birthday candles lighting his face and snow in his hair.

This is the thing nobody tells you about The One. How they’re timeless. How the moment they pop up again you’re right back in it, right where you left off. I was darted through the heart, hit by the truck, my brain taking the screenshot.

Why not forgive? In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy; Justin. I don't know what it was like to be her. A single mom at eighteen, no money, no family. She struggled. She still struggles. But she loves me and I never doubted that for a second no matter what she did.

But I knew now that Justin was the only person in the world I could ever disappear into.

But so far I haven’t found a home I’d want to stay at forever.” “Maybe home isn’t a place. Maybe it’s a person.

We do not go out of our way for men. We do not inconvenience ourselves for men, we do not change our well-laid plans for men.

And there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t feel her absence like a void in my soul. I missed her like I missed the sun in the winter.

I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me sometime,” he whispered. “Four dates. A kiss. No breakup.

You’ll never use it. Most of the stuff we hang on to we don’t actually need. My entire life packs into two large suitcases. And if it doesn’t, I leave whatever doesn’t fit.

What do you think she’ll be like? she whispered, after a moment. “Who?” I said gently, holding her to my chest. “The girl you’ll meet after me. Your soulmate.” My heart shattered into a million pieces. If you had asked me yesterday, I would have said it was her. Instead she’d end up being the one who got away. Not a soulmate, just the love of my life. And unfortunately they’re not the same thing.

I wanted his fast breath and the moan in the back of his throat and the gasp in mine. I wanted to forget. To be so lost in him I couldn’t think about what scared me, or the cracks in my heart, or the things that didn’t work right in my soul. I got lost in myself all the time. But I knew now that Justin was the only person in the world I could ever disappear into.

This is what my skin was for. To be touched like this. To feel this. Every nerve was for this sole purpose and I didn’t even know it until now. To feel his strong hand slide up to cup my breast, his thumb circling my nipple. To feel his breath on my collarbone. I was made to experience him. And he was right. It was magic.

I’d never done drugs before, but I imagined this was what being high felt like. I couldn’t wait for our date tonight

You said the ones Amber got you were dead. I wanted to get you some that wouldn’t die.

I don’t think you’re a horrible person. I think you went through something horrible and that’s who you needed to become to get through it.

If you really loved me, you would have let me go.

And when I met her in the middle of the lawn and she hugged me, I was so overwhelmed with relief, I started to cry. I was a little girl again.

I would stay forever if you asked me,” I whispered. “Then stay.” I broke in half.

He puffed air from his cheeks. “It’s like death by a thousand cuts,

Why not forgive? In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy,

It’s funny how when you find someone you like as much as I liked her, the destination is suddenly wherever they are.

But maybe she did fall apart. Maybe she just didn’t let us see it. Maybe that was her way of protecting us from more cracks.

Even if it was just a tiny moment in a long lifetime of moments, I was happy to be a part of it.

No. When they’re that attractive or over six feet tall, they usually have the personality of a sexy palm tree.

Of course I want that. Who wouldn’t want to get hit by a love truck?

At this point I'm convinced the man could sell you an MLM

Now you just tuck that little trash panda into your cleavage. Quiets him right down.

I wondered if you see things differently in childhood. If innocence can make anything beautiful.

You go through it. You can’t go around it, you have to go through it. And we’re here to help you do it.

The truth isn’t supposed to be pretty, right? It’s the truth.

I think the thing that always got me through the stuff with my mom was knowing that she didn’t want to be the way she was. Nobody wants to be the villain, Justin. If you start there, it’s easier to get how people end up who they are and where they are. My mom put me through a lot. She hurt me. A lot. But she’s full of more cracks than I can ever comprehend.

Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore. But if you don’t think your life would be better without them in it, then accept that they have cracks.

You deserve to be appreciated, Emma." "I think I'm just used to feeling like I'm asking too much when I need something. Unless it's Maddy. My mom- "You're not asking too much," he said. "You were just asking the wrong person. Ask me instead.

Home wasn’t a place, it was a person.

Could be Taco Bell,” Jacob said, giving his wife a playful eyebrow.

Why not forgive? In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy

He’s got a bed frame,

I didn’t want to drop her off. It didn’t feel like we’d gotten enough time, but to be fair the whole day wouldn’t have been enough time.

It’s too confusing. The truth scares them. Sometimes the best way to show love or be kind to someone is to meet them where they are.

Nobody wants to be the villain, Justin. If you start there, it’s easier to get how people end up who they are and where they are.

And for the first time maybe ever, I felt like I belonged somewhere.

Sorry, I had to give Brad his dewormer. I brought some for you too. Faith said you’ve been dragging your ass on the carpet?

What if he’s some gross dude who doesn’t floss and now he’s got a picture for his spank bank?

Sometimes your traumas are the reason you know how to help.

Am I petty? Yes. But am I the asshole?

You know how when something bad happens to someone you love, and you wish you could take it from them instead?” “Yeah.” “What if the universe listened? What if you or your mom or the kids were supposed to die in a car crash and your dad said ‘Take me instead’—and the universe did. And nobody remembers the way it was supposed to be because that’s the deal. You never get to know that he’s a hero. The fates are reversed and the tribute takes the thing he asked for to save someone he loves. If you think of it that way, instead of being sad that he’s gone, be happy that he got what he wanted. And that somebody loved you enough to take your place.

This was not a woman I wanted to end things with after four dates. I was already thinking of ways I could make our dates more special, things I could bring her or places I could take her.

When men stop assaulting women they meet on the internet, we’ll stop creeping on them to make sure they pass the vibe check. And anyway, if he wanted privacy, his account would be private.

I think I’m just used to feeling like I’m asking too much when I need something. Unless it’s Maddy. My mom—” “You’re not asking too much,” he said. “You were just asking the wrong person. Ask me instead.

Hey,” she said. “Try and find a way to reject him on this date.” I looked up. “Huh?” “Tell him no. See how he reacts. Or beat him at a game. If he takes you bowling or to miniature golf or something, destroy him. You can tell a lot about a guy by how they deal with rejection and getting their asses handed to them.

Good. Now I'm going to tell you something, and I really need you to hear it,' she said. 'You can cut me off, cut Justin off, be so small no one can ever find you. Go ahead. Run like the wind, I won't chase you. But you can't escape yourself.' I just stared at her. 'You are not what happened to you. You are what you do next.' Something in her words finally got through, and I suddenly wanted to cry. A pinch of emotion in a dark, deep nothing.

You can still love someone that you’ve decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore. But if you don’t think your life would be better without them in it, then accept that they have cracks. Try to understand how they got them and help fill them with something that isn’t ice.” She peered at me. “If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin. It’s so much healthier than anger. For both of you.

The love stories sold us the wrong thing. The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast

This wasn’t like anything I’d ever known. I wanted him to hold me after. To wake up with me in the morning and eat cereal in my bed while we watched TV. I wanted to see his pajamas on Christmas morning and find out what he looked like with birthday candles lighting his face and snow in his hair. I wanted to be tangled in him, in all his limbs and all his strings.

The best kind of love doesn't happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. Its not grand gestures that show how you feel, it's all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about.

When I got like this, I didn’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone. I could shut down for days. Turn off my phone, call out of work, abandon my social media. Not answer the door for anyone or anything, cut off everyone until I felt safe enough to start to let them in again a little at a time.

This wasn’t like anything I’d ever known. I wanted him to hold me after. To wake up with me in the morning and eat cereal in my bed while we watched TV. I wanted to see his pajamas on Christmas morning and find out what he looked like with birthday candles lighting his face and snow in his hair.

The FBI should hire more women. We’re natural investigators.

It’s one thing to go to therapy and learn skills. It’s very different to have to use them in real life.

You can’t help someone unless they want to be helped,

He pulled me closer and kissed the top of my head. And for the first time maybe ever, I felt like I belonged somewhere.

I think I’m just used to feeling like I’m asking too much when I need something.

What if I mess them up?” I asked quietly. She smiled at me gently. “What if you save them?

The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life.

Uh, because he could be a serial killer?” “A serial killer with a sense of humor, a rescue dog, lifelong friends, and a relationship with his mom?

r/AmItheasshole                 1 week ago Posted by just_in_267 AITA for naming my ugly dog after my ex best friend?

Not the asshole.

pulling the pickles out of my chicken sandwich and putting them on her plate.

but I could meet you where you are now. I can meet all of you. I've filled my cracks. I don't want to be an island.

Did I believe that there were some people not meant for parenthood—also yes.

I missed her like I missed the sun in the winter.

That framing is everything. That if you can frame the terrible things in the best possible way, that’s where true happiness comes from.

don’t see any red flags here, other than he’s got a J name. J-named men are the worst.

Los perros siempre te dejan claro quiénes son buenas personas.

Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.

He deserved for the hard things of his life to be made a little easier, the way he made everyone else’s life easier.

That if you can frame the terrible things in the best possible way, that’s where true happiness comes from.

I didn’t feel abandoned,” she said, looking me in the eye. “’Cause I knew if I ever called you, you’d come.

You can't control the bad things that happen to you. All you can do is decide how much of you you're going to let them take.

Sometimes I felt like I was roaming this earth as a ghost, seeing everything and feeling nothing.

If this isn’t magic, then what is?” he asked. “What does it feel like to be under a spell if this isn’t it?

I lot of things happen to me. I think sometimes the key to happiness is framing those things in a different way

Like I was dating a boy I grew up with and I hadn't seen him in a few years and when I did, he'd turned into someone irresistible. Obviously that whole scenario was impossible.

I felt like I could stay in this moment forever. Like it was timeless because of how absolutely perfect it was. And yet there was nothing perfect about it. Not in the traditional sense.

It's funny how when you find someone you like as much as I liked her, the destination is suddenly wherever they are. Even if there's someplace better, you wouldn't go if they couldn't come.

He’d sent the Beetlejuice photo nine minutes ago and we’d already deconstructed his entire life. I’d seen his face, his family, his apartment, his dad’s obituary, and I knew where he worked.

He keeps sending me pictures of every Toilet King billboard, bus bench, and airplane banner he sees, which if you live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, you understand exactly how often this happens.

It was like there was no peaceful place to exist, no emotional safe space. I could have chaos, or I could have worry. I could be in the tornado, or I could be in the eye. But I could never be out of the storm.

I’d realized something after being with her. A valuable lesson that I think all the best and most enduring romances have figured out. The love stories sold us the wrong thing. The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast so she can have the last middle piece for her sandwich when you pack her lunch. Making sure her car always has gas so she never has to stop at the pump. Telling her you’re not cold and to take your jacket when you are in fact, very, very cold. It’s watching TV on a rainy Sunday while you’re doing laundry and turning her light off when she’s fallen asleep reading. Sharing pizza crusts and laughing about something the kids did and taking care of each other when you’re sick. It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.

You can still love someone that you’ve decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore.

It was scary how detached I felt. Like something had been unplugged. I knew objectively this was bad. A severe trauma response. A form of shock. But I was too disconnected to feel anything other than the void and I was too grateful for the void to want it to stop.

There are so many things in life that exist on a spectrum. Trust. Kisses. Love. You can love someone and still not be willing to give up your way of life for them. And then there are those you love who you’d take a bullet for. It’s all the same emotion, just different levels.

What if the universe listened? What if you or your mom or the kids were supposed to die in a car crash and your dad said ‘Take me instead’—and the universe did. And nobody remembers the way it was supposed to be because that’s the deal. You never get to know that he’s a hero.

I felt full of cracks all of a sudden. Deep, long, jagged cracks. And they’d always been there. I’d just learned to live with them so long I no longer noticed them. I’d hopped over them and built little bridges and taken other routes, but I never filled them. I never fixed them. I didn’t even know how.

What happens when water gets into a crack and it freezes?” “It expands,” I said. “Makes the crack bigger.” “Unhealed trauma is a crack. And all the little hard things that trickle into it that would have rolled off someone else, settle. Then when life gets cold, that crack gets bigger, longer, deeper. It makes new breaks. You don’t know how broken she was or what she was trying to do to fill those cracks. Being broken is not an excuse for bad behavior, you still have to make good choices and do the right thing. But it can be the reason. And sometimes understanding the reason can be what helps you heal.

But I just don’t think I’m meeting the right people.” “Yeah, but maybe this is why,” he said. “It’s exhausting, starting over all the time, again and again. Like there’s no point. Like I’m trapped in some loop, partnered over and over with people I’m just supposed to redistribute down the line to someone else.

You don't have to forgive her. You really don't. You can still love someone that you've decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn't mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can't allow them to harm you anymore.

Maybe that’s why I was a good nurse. I had the gift of extreme empathy paired with detachment. I could deeply understand someone and anticipate their needs, but also never get close enough to them to feel it when they passed away or suffered or I moved on. I didn’t fall in love. Not with people or places. Not with anything, really.

His bed was made with a beige duvet. A neat desk with an elaborate computer set up on it. Three large screens and a keypad and wireless mouse in the middle. There was a tiny dog bed next to the desk and a potted plant in the corner. Artwork on the walls. It was a nice apartment—minus the view. He was obviously clean and had good enough taste.

The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast so she can have the last middle piece for her sandwich when you pack her lunch. Making sure her car always has gas so she never has to stop at the pump. Telling her you’re not cold and to take your jacket when you are in fact, very, very cold. It’s watching TV on a rainy Sunday while you’re doing laundry and turning her light off when she’s fallen asleep reading. Sharing pizza crusts and laughing about something the kids did and taking care of each other when you’re sick. It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.

The love stories sold us the wrong thing. The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast so she can have the last middle piece for her sandwich when you pack her lunch. Making sure her car always has gas so she never has to stop at the pump. Telling her you’re not cold and to take your jacket when you are in fact, very, very cold. It’s watching TV on a rainy Sunday while you’re doing laundry and turning her light off when she’s fallen asleep reading. Sharing pizza crusts and laughing about something the kids did and taking care of each other when you’re sick. It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out

The fading scent of roses would make me brace. Make me hyperaware of her comings and goings. Make me try harder to be less of a burden so maybe she wouldn’t feel the need to put me down again and go. Do well in school. Do my own laundry. Make my own food. Don’t ask for anything. Don’t need anything. Clean up after myself. Then after her. Be helpful. Be invisible. Be small.

went to a rescue and found the ugliest animal there. The one so hideous, nobody else wanted it. This dog’s got an underbite and mange, and he’s missing half an ear. He’s a little Brussels Griffon, so he’s got that deep frown—he looks like a judgmental gremlin. I adopted him and named him Chad since the dog is now my new best friend. If you’re reading this, you’re dead to me, human Chad.

This wasn’t like anything I’d ever known. I wanted him to hold me after. To wake up with me in the morning and eat cereal in my bed while we watched TV. I wanted to see his pajamas on Christmas morning and find out what he looked like with birthday candles lighting his face and snow in his hair. I wanted to be tangled in him, in all his limbs and all his strings. I never wanted us to end.

It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast so she can have the last middle piece for her sandwich when you pack her lunch. Making sure her car always has gas so she never has to stop at the pump. Telling her you’re not cold and to take your jacket when you are in fact, very, very cold. It’s watching TV on a rainy Sunday while you’re doing laundry and turning her light off when she’s fallen asleep reading. Sharing pizza crusts and laughing about something the kids did and taking care of each other when you’re sick. It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.

Puedes seguir queriendo a alguien a quien has decidido no volver a dirigirle la palabra. Puedes seguir deseándole lo mejor y esperar que solo le pasen cosas buenas. Elegir vivir sin esa persona no implica dejar de quererla. Solo implica que no puedes permitir que sigan haciéndote daño. Pero si crees que tu vida no va a ser mejor sin esa persona, debes aceptar que tiene grietas. Debes intentar comprender cómo se las hizo y ayudarla a rellenarlas con otra cosa que no sea hielo.

The love stories sold us the wrong thing. The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast so she can have the last middle piece for her sandwich when you pack her lunch. Making sure her car always has gas so she never has to stop at the pump.

The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast so she can have the last middle piece for her sandwich when you pack her lunch. Making sure her car always has gas so she never has to stop at the pump. Telling her you’re not cold and to take your

I felt myself get small. I got so small, I vanished. It was catastrophic. A total decimation. A detachment like I’d never experienced. I folded into myself tighter and tinier than I ever had, and when I was done, I got smaller still. There was no room for anyone. Not Maddy, not Justin. No one. I didn’t want anyone near me. I didn’t want anyone to know me. I wanted to be the island. I wanted to be alone and untouchable. To never rely on anyone or love anyone or let anyone love me, because this is what love gets you. My heart shut off.

She shrugged. “You don’t have to forgive her. You really don’t. You can still love someone that you’ve decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore. But if you don’t think your life would be better without them in it, then accept that they have cracks. Try to understand how they got them and help fill them with something that isn’t ice.” She peered at me. “If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin. It’s so much healthier than anger. For both of you.

The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast so she can have the last middle piece for her sandwich when you pack her lunch. Making sure her car always has gas so she never has to stop at the pump. Telling her you’re not cold and to take your jacket when you are in fact, very, very cold. It’s watching TV on a rainy Sunday while you’re doing laundry and turning her light off when she’s fallen asleep reading. Sharing pizza crusts and laughing about something the kids did and taking care of each other when you’re sick. It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out. I was grateful that the life I’d been forced into taught me this lesson. I just wish I hadn’t learned it with Emma. Because nothing and nobody else would ever compare. With anyone else, it’s just folding socks on a sofa.

The One.

You’re like a docking station for small vulnerable dependents.

You’re not asking too much,” he said. “You were just asking the wrong person. Ask me instead

Maybe that’s why I was a good nurse. I had the gift of extreme empathy paired with detachment. I could deeply understand someone and anticipate their needs, but also never get close enough to them to feel it when they passed away or suffered or I moved on.

We’ll try it,” she said, into the phone. “I’ll stay.

How the hell do I do this?” I whispered. Brad answered. “You go through it. You can’t go around it, you have to go through it. And we’re here to help you do it.

Amber’s

You can love someone and still not be willing to give up your way of life for them. And then there are those you love who you’d take a bullet for. It’s all the same emotion, just different levels.

You can still love someone that you’ve decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore. But if you don’t think your life would be better without them in it, then accept that they have cracks.

I know you said you never know when you’re getting your breaks, so I figured I’d just drop it off. I made one for you too, Maddy. Vegetarian. You don’t eat meat, right?

What if the universe listened? What if you or your mom or the kids were supposed to die in a car crash and your dad said ‘Take me instead’—and the universe did. And nobody remembers the way it was supposed to be because that’s the deal. You never get to know that he’s a hero. The fates are reversed and the tribute takes the thing he asked for to save someone he loves.

I think sometimes the key to happiness is framing those things in a different way.

Maddy was like a first responder for my soul.

You can’t. I promise you, you cannot undo twenty-nine years of conditioning. I don’t even know if I can do it. I have cracks that I need to fill and I can’t do that here. I can’t do that with you, or them.

I thought about the rom-coms Mom used to watch when I was growing up. The dramatic grand gestures that keep them together at the end. But that’s not what real grown-up relationships are like. They’re like this. Being mature enough to know your limits, and adult enough to accept when someone tells you what they are.

Not a soulmate, just the love of my life. And unfortunately they’re not the same thing.

Great Wolf Lodge

You know what I think about sometimes?” she said, raising her eyes to mine. “What?” “You know how when something bad happens to someone you love, and you wish you could take it from them instead?” “Yeah.” “What if the universe listened? What if you or your mom or the kids were supposed to die in a car crash and your dad said ‘Take me instead’—and the universe did. And nobody remembers the way it was supposed to be because that’s the deal. You never get to know that he’s a hero. The fates are reversed and the tribute takes the thing he asked for to save someone he loves. If you think of it that way, instead of being sad that he’s gone, be happy that he got what he wanted. And that somebody loved you enough to take your place.

How do you learn to forgive her?” She shrugged. “You don’t have to forgive her. You really don’t. You can still love someone that you’ve decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore. But if you don’t think your life would be better without them in it, then accept that they have cracks. Try to understand how they got them and help fill them with something that isn’t ice.” She peered at me. “If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin. It’s so much healthier than anger. For both of you.

Uh, I promise you I can outmaneuver a zombie, Justin.” “Well, if you can’t, I promise to run slower than you.

Sometimes I feel like the seasons could come and go and come and go, a hundred years could pass, a thousand, the ground could collapse under us, this house could crumble and go back to the earth, and we would still be standing here frozen in time, because every second I’m with you is eternal. I’ve never felt anything like it

stood there in the courtyard, leaning against his car.

Why not forgive? In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin

I was in the middle of a road, watching the headlights of a Mack truck coming right at me.

Maddy said about dogs, that they always tell you who the good people are.

If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy

You know how when something bad happens to someone you love, and you wish you could take it from them instead?” “Yeah.” “What if the universe listened? What if you or your mom or the kids were supposed to die in a car crash and your dad said ‘Take me instead’—and the universe did. And nobody remembers the way it was supposed to be because that’s the deal. You never get to know that he’s a hero. The fates are reversed and the tribute takes the thing he asked for to save someone he loves.

You go through it. You can’t go around it, you have to go through it.

I knew she liked me. She was genuinely attracted to me, I could feel it.

I didn’t know how it was possible she got more beautiful every time I saw her, but she did.

I don’t see any red flags here, other than he’s got a J name. J-named men are the worst.

It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.

Would you? Beg? It might help.

You don’t have to forgive her. You really don’t. You can still love someone that you’ve decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore. But if you don’t think your life would be better without them in it, then accept that they have cracks. Try to understand how they got them and help fill them with something that isn’t ice.

If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy. I

Like there’s no point. Like I’m trapped in some loop, partnered over and over with people I’m just supposed to redistribute down the line to someone else.

It’s exhausting, starting over all the time, again and again. Like there’s no point. Like I’m trapped in some loop, partnered over and over with people I’m just supposed to redistribute down the line to someone else.

My dog is here,” he added. “You can meet Brad.” I did want to meet Brad…