Have you ever reacted to something, maybe a tone of voice, a moment of feeling criticised, or the sense that you had somehow disappointed someone, and the reaction inside you was so much bigger than the situation? Where something small sent you straight into anxiety, or into silence, or into working harder to fix it, to smooth it over, to make it right?

And some part of you wondered, where did that come from?

Before there was a marriage to lose, there was a promise.

My parents separated when I was young. My tender heart learned its first language early. Rejection. Not enough. Somehow too much, both at once.

Out of that, I made a promise. If I just love hard enough, give enough, need little enough, maybe no one else will leave.

I did not decide this. I simply believed it, the way children believe the things that keep them safe.