Four weeks ago, I was standing in my kitchen when a quiet, uncomfortable thought hit me:
I haven’t been single since I was eighteen.

Now, at twenty-six, I look back and realize that much of my late teens and early twenties were shaped by the relationships I was in. And while I’ve only been in two serious ones, they each left a profound impact on me—mentally, physically, and emotionally. And in many ways, they altered the course of my life.