Ashlin Horne on love: “It isn’t an illusion of stability that we can fit inside of cabinets and between four walls. That won’t keep us in the arms of another person. It isn’t just forty years of furniture and picture frames that keep it together.”

From Lactaid Fast Act Chewables to “one year of marriage counseling,” Marika Malaea gives honeymoon funds a more prosaic (and hilarious) spin.

“My mind was spinning. Love with a Chance of Drowning was due to publish in three months time but the love itself was drowning.” Torre DeRoche had to promote her memoir at the same time she and her partner had split. At The Fearful Adventurer, she explains what happens.

“Sean knows me, recognizes these lows after 18 years together, and has mastered worrying from a gentle distance.” When Amanda feels herself sliding, she trusts those closest to her to shepherd her toward the sunshine.

“The whole evening I had been suspended in a bubble with Max, and now I felt like I was holding a pin, ready to burst it and step out into the real world again.” Quinn describes a beautiful, meaningful encounter with a stranger in Vienna some years ago.

“Loss is a fundamental part of traveling; people rarely tell you that.” A traveler looks back on the time he said goodbye to North Carolina — and to Ashley.

“The quicker we leave, the less chance we have for weaving something better than all that politics has failed to deliver.” When it comes to friendship and politics, pastor J.S. Park encourages us to build — not burn — bridges.

Love is blind, but can it also be deaf? A tale of romance, salad, and misophonia (aka, the aural sensitivity that causes some people to fly into a rage at the sound of chewing).