Author: kirklandc008@gmail.com
My husband and I have been together for six years. He is 60, 20 years older than me. We had a baby last year and went through a really difficult time in our relationship. Things are better after some couples therapy, but we are both still unhappy with our sex life.I take a while to orgasm, and he gets very impatient and essentially just gives up (he always orgasms first, and quickly). I also have longstanding health issues that make sex painful. He has always been respectful when I say I can’t have sex because of the pain. But he gets…
Therapists often see couples facing a very real dilemma: After years and years together, one or both partners no longer feel as “in love” as they were before. Is it possible to fall back in love? Absolutely, but it takes time and effort from both spouses. Below, marriage therapists offer a short list of advice they give couples at this crossroad. 1. Accept that you may have to work at falling back “in like” with each other first.Falling out of love didn’t happen overnight. Falling back in love is going to take some time, too, explained David McFadden, a couples…
In 2016 I was an Australian student on exchange in Dublin, plotting to fall in love at Trinity College before Normal People made it cool. My housemates had swiped on Jack’s Tinder profile on my behalf, and we met in October for the first time under the Spire on O’Connell Street.Jack couldn’t quite believe I had actually shown up; I was just glad he wasn’t the other lad standing there with the Peaky Blinders haircut and matching tracksuit. We went to a bookshop cafe, where Jack spilled his tea due to nerves and I waxed lyrical about the importance of…
Imogen on AndyWhat were you hoping for?Something to tell the group chat that would elicit more 😮 reactions than usual.First impressions?Polite, nice hands, early.What did you talk about?We covered most of the world’s topics, my favourite being whether having an AI boyfriend is functionally the same as being in a long-distance relationship (I admit that was slight rage bait).Most awkward moment?I jokingly asked for a compliment on my outfit and he said he didn’t really like it. I told him white lies exist for a reason …Good table manners?Excellent – my water glass was never empty and our food was…
My maternal grandparents were married for a remarkable 65 years, remaining devoted to each other through good times and bad until, as many marital vows state: death did they part.Was their marriage perfect? Not at all. My grandmother was born in Sicily, where passionate, fiery tempers are common. My grandfather had Calabrian roots, meaning his family was from a region in Southern Italy where people are also known for being hot-tempered and stubborn (as my grandmother informed me on numerous occasions when my grandfather had gotten in trouble with her yet again). Needless to say, there were plenty of animated…
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ~Rumi The first winter, I learned to lie cheerfully. “How are you settling in?” someone would ask, and I would smile and say, “Really well, thank you.” That was the most fluent English I spoke all day. I had left a warm, loud, crowded life and landed in a quiet apartment in a country where the cold did something to the air that made it hurt to breathe. I was a student, far from everyone who knew my name properly. I was supposed to be grateful. And I was grateful.…
In the age of app-based romance, fresh dating trends seem to emerge every week. Many of them – in the mould of ghosting and catfishing – are profoundly antisocial, while some are defensive strategies against toxic suitors. More than a few are but new names for disgraceful behaviours as old as time. You may have been the victim of one – or you may have unwittingly deployed one – but how many can you identify? Which of the following are genuine trends, and which are not?1.Breadcrumbing. In this strategy, the toxic romantic prospect offers an admirer a sparse trail of…
Whether it’s Harry Styles getting hit in the face with Skittles onstage, fans filming shows instead of, you know, actually watching them, or a disturbing increase in public defecation in the audience, concert etiquette in the 2020s is practically nonexistent. So much so that there’s even a Wikipedia page dedicated to the decade’s uptick in terrible concert behavior. Pooping in the stands. Throwing phones. Loud talking during performances. When — and why — did we start acting like undersocialized animals just because we bought tickets to the Eras Tour? What should be an evening of revelry is too often peppered…
People are lonelier than ever ― that’s hardly breaking news. Everyone has a theory about why. Social media usually gets the blame; streaming platforms like Netflix are often part of the conversation; and, increasingly, AI is making the list.In 2023, the U.S. surgeon general warned that the country was facing a “loneliness epidemic.” The diagnosis was clear. But what if we’ve been looking at the problem the wrong way?Maybe loneliness isn’t about how many friends we have. On paper, many of us have larger social circles than previous generations, whether that’s hundreds of Facebook friends or a busy group chat…
Press enter or click to view image in full sizePhoto by Aaron Burden on UnsplashThere are stories that people remember because they lasted.And then there are stories like Augustine’s—remembered because they never really had the chance to begin.Taylor Swift’s August has always felt less like a song and more like a confession. Every time I hear it, I don’t hear a villain. I hear a girl who loved with everything she had, even when the ending had already been written for her.Augustine fell in love during a season that was always meant to pass.She knew there was another girl. She…