We met up, we fell in love, I had too many issues. She had her own but tried to coach me through. Eventually she left me.

I didn't eat for days, I was so useless at work my boss had to haul me in several times until I told him what was up. He told me to take my vacation time. I did. He was the first person I told what was going on. After that, the dam kind of broke and I started opening up to family.

Over the next few years I was in and out of therapy, coaxed into it several times, but it never took. A few years later I was ready, went to therapy and it stuck.

Am I over her? Depends what you mean by over. She'll always be the one who I think would have worked out. She understood me better than anyone else. Every relationship since has felt like... two people trying to understand each other and make it work. I'll never be over that, I think. But I have made relationships work, I can think of her without feeling pain or cringing at my problems at the time. I am not trying to and never did (except for a few short weeks after the breakup) try to rekindle things.