Love & Other Natural Disasters

“Life doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to, and love doesn’t always conquer all. You know that better than I do. But you can acknowledge that things are bad, and still find a way through. And maybe sometimes that means you stop loving each other, or maybe you have to find a new way to love each other. I know that. So, okay. It’ll be hard, but I’m still hopeful. I want us to be together and I’m choosing to believe that it’s worth trying. Because I’m really, truly, head over heels for you.”

. “Loving someone the way they need to be loved is hard. People can be really bad at it,” he says. “All we can do is keep trying.”

FORGET ABOUT DAD’S MANTRA, “LOVE IS NEVER easy.” It’s so far beyond that. Love is exhausting. Love is painful. Love is diabolically confusing. My life is descending into chaos, and it’s all because of love.

if you and Mom didn’t have something worth saving . . . did you ever love each other?”

Dad looks out over the city for a long time before saying, “I think we did.”

“You think you did?” Not helpful. Because what I need to know now is, how do you tell the difference between real, lasting love and some other kind of love that’s doomed to implode? How do you know when to hope and when to give up?

“I wish I could give you a better answer, Zozo,” he says. “If it’s any comfort, I’m not sorry I married your mother. I’m just sorry I couldn’t love her in the way she needed.” He regards his sandwich and seems to decide that it might still be good to eat after all, and takes a bite. “So don’t give up on loving people, okay? In the end, it’s always worth the risk to follow your heart.”

Dela looks up at the night sky and says, “A wise person once said, ‘We are all connected by our aspirations toward happiness—by our wishes on stars.’”

I gape at her. “I said that!”

“I know.”