Marriage was never really in the cards for us But it was simply the next step in our relationship, like growing out of a pair of shoes You would buy the new shoes wouldn’t you? So why not just upgrade to a newer status of “us”? I never knew what I wanted out of life You always had a plan I thought we balanced each other out But maybe we were at opposite ends of the universe, slowly being pulled further apart by our vast differences But if I knew one thing in this world, it was that I loved you God did I love you- I was as sure of it as I was as sure as the stars and moon above that gave me such comfort on those cold nights when my anxiety would steal any notion of sleep You used to find me lying outside in the grass, staring up at the sky at 2, 3 in the morning You never said a word, just lay down beside me and held me until I stopped sobbing We fought constantly Over stupid little things that I now regret We would get into raging wars about which flowers to buy from the stand- I love sunflowers and you hate yellow After we fought you would shove me against the wall and kiss me until your tongue melted away all the curses I meant to scream at you The week we decided to repaint our kitchen was the week I met another man It wasn’t planned Nothing ever really was, if I had anything to say about it We met at the flower stand; he said my sunflowers were beautiful Soon we were fooling around in the back of my car every night that week The next day at Home Depot we were fighting about the paint color Of course I wanted yellow and of course you hated it I screamed that I had slept with someone else and the look on your face just about killed me It was like I had stolen all the dreams you ever had, and I guess I did because I took your heart and I shattered it like a mirror We haven’t spoken much since, just civil conversation with lawyers present about the divorce You should have bought me sunflowers.