Real intimacy was a delicate cloth of shared experiences stitched together by tiny accretions of time, mutual trust and support. It wasn’t something that could be folded, put away and shaken out when the need presented itself.

What happens between two people is mystifying; the opposite of what you think can be closer to the truth.

I’m not sure love makes sense even to those who are involved. If we could simply explain it like an algorithm or a theory, we might lose interest.

Is it about lack of closure, unfinished business?" he asked. "Or perhaps that, whether people are with us or not, the relationship keeps on going. The dead only leave the room; they remain firmly in our lives.