Too Near to Touch

I think a lot about the onset of a relationship. The beginning of love.

For me, the adoration and desire were instantaneous when I met my wife. I was 21, she was 19. We both worked at the same store at the mall. There was a brief but exhilarating period where I would be talking to her at work, maybe five feet apart, but it felt like we were inches away. I wanted to put my hands around her waist—but we hadn’t even gone on a date yet.

I…