Confident that I no longer needed a life vest to float in the waters I had plunged into, my partner decided to get a master’s degree and then work full-time again. The spaces between us grew geographically vast again, but we continued to wash up on common shores, shunning the need to be legally bound to each other. After the initial ache of separation wore away, my journey felt lighter, for I knew I wasn’t carrying all of myself along.
