Story Four

 

I always feel bad for folks who hold back their excitement, joy and affection. It always seems as though they're worried that if they show too much of it, they might run out and have none left for a later. I get it though, sharing joy is a vulnerable place to be. Excitedly telling someone something that's made your day, only to be met with a blank faced shrug makes you feel like a deflating balloon. Having someone who cares about the things you care about, because you care about them, is one of life's true privileges.
 

Story Three

 

 Reality checks are funny aren't they? You go your whole life thinking that you're fairly free of ego and then something challenges your image of yourself and it makes you feel as you're struggling to escape a paddling pool full of jelly. I've never thought I was the smartest person in the world, but I've read a bit, studied a little & been to a few places, I can usually keep up. The moment that it struck me that compared with Steph, I was basically a card-board cut out of a man and not an especially smart one at that, it definitely bruised the ego that I didn't think I had. Luckily, within about four seconds I realised that I was dating a beautiful genius who wanted to share everything she knew with me and my ego didn't seem so important anymore.

Story Two

 Such a frickin' cliche isn't? 'Communication's the most important thing in a relationship' yaaawn, whatever Oprah, get over yourself! Except, like most cliches, it's completely true. If we're unlucky, we've not figured out how to tell our significant other what matters to us and why. Then we do that horrible thing of expecting our poor partners to guess what's on our minds, getting angry and frustrated when they don't know what we've not told them. Explaining how our worlds work to those we love can stop a lot of hurt before it even starts.

Story One

 

It really is a typical love story, we've all heard it a thousand times. Middle aged man who can't accept that he isn't twenty two any more meets a beautiful girl. Half way through the second drink she announces that she's autistic, man-boy asks a couple of questions, they return to discussing horror movies. They spend the next few years falling head over heels in love with one another and struggle to imagine a life apart.