The Last Time I Was Me

by Cathy Lamb

I wondered if he were the type of man who said, “I love you” a lot to the woman in his life or if he simply showed her. I had a feeling he was a “shower” which meant he would get laid a lot. Men don’t get that. The getting laid thing. They think that the words “I love you” are hot foreplay. Those words are nice to hear if you think the person truly loves you and you trust him and the relationship and your future and you know that the sex you’re going to have is healthy and right and he’ll be there in the morning and the next morning after that, and the morning you’re passing a kidney stone or grieving over your dead mother, and the morning they cart you away to a nursing home when you’re ninety-five and he’s there, packed up, and ready to go with you so you don’t have to be alone.