Jumping Ship
When I was a 20-year-old college student, a date took me sailing off the coast of Cardiff-by-the-Sea in Southern California. I watched anxiously as he launched us from shore. When we were beyond the waves, he laughed and said, “Now, you’re trapped.” I disagreed, ignored my fear of sharks and jumped overboard. I managed a head-up breaststroke through the lazy swells of algae-green water, feeling the weight of my purple sweatshirt as I headed back to the beach. My outsize reaction to what was clearly an offhand joke solidified my suspicion that I was gay. — Desiree Beck
At a Crossroad
The atrophied muscles in my husband’s paralyzed legs stand out as I wash his feet. “How do they look?” he asks with trepidation as I inspect his curled toes. Initially, he did not want to accept the disability, and I did not want to be a caregiver. We blamed each other. I filed for divorce. As the court date drew near, he declared, “I don’t want anyone else.” Tears falling down my face, I replied, “I don’t want anyone else, either.” Marriage no longer looks like what we pictured, but our love still exists and can grow through the imperfect. — Michaell Crews-Yancey
My Main Boss
1 a.m. emails pending, deadlines looming, the house still and quiet, I could finally get some work done. Typing as my toddler lies beside me, I listen to my keystrokes fall into a rhythm with her soft snores. Her body is warm, a reminder of the fever we had just battled, the tears that flowed and the sleepless nights before. Hand, foot and mouth disease, doctors called it — a fitting name for the blisters fading away. Then she opened her eyes. “Mummy, come to bed, please.” I sighed, smiled and closed my laptop. The other job could wait. — Atai Okokon
More Than an Apartment Tour
Ken had a three-date rule before sex, so when I invited him up to my mother’s apartment on date two, he thought I wanted to show him her apartment. He admired the view, the ceiling height, even her dining room table. “Come see her sofa,” I said, siren that I am. After a few hours of chatting on the couch, he realized I wanted more. My mother was out of town. We ended up in her bed. I am not usually a two-date person. But when you know, you know. — Elena Bowes
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