When Courtship Resembles a Snare

Our relationship resembled an interminable voyage on a malfunctioning London Underground train, perpetually arriving at a station only to retreat and proceed in the opposite direction. For five years, Alan and I were ensnared in a cycle of separations and reconciliations, an unremitting emotional tumult that rendered me disoriented and fatigued. The tumult was our standard, a maelstrom of fervent disputes succeeded by ardent reconciliations. I cannot recall a period in our romantic relationship ...