Surrounded by heartbreak

Last night I sat at the bar of a neighborhood restaurant with a friend and literally had to grab a hanful of cocktail napkins for him and a couple for me to wipe his tears off my shoulder.

Tis the season...for breakups.

There have been three lately. Three hot summer romances that were sizzling . . . until now. And my heart goes out to all six people. It's a tough adjustment going from us and we - to I and me. Coming home to an empty apartment, eating alone, waking up by yourself. But it's just an adjustment, and usually one worth making.

My friend last night broke up with his "home girl" Saturday night. She has no job and her unemployment ran out a few months ago. Last week she gave up her apartment and moved in with her mother a few miles away, but she hadn't spent a night in her apartment since June. He works from home. He just sold his three-bedroom townhouse with two roommates and moved to a small one-bedroom apartment. He hates being alone. Last night I watched his mood go from happy to sobbing on my shoulder. I'm not sure if his tears were for her, for himself or both. As of Sunday night, he hadn't eaten since sometime on Saturday, but he was not short on drinks.

They're nice people, but their relationship was toxic. They both drink too much. Day and night. The he started getting fed up with having to support her. Two drinking habits are expensive financially and emotionally. I was afraid they would implode together. Separately, they stand a chance of drinking less and being more productive, happier people. I the mean time, I'm exhausted.

Another breakup has the roles reversed. She loves her job. He doesn't have a steady income but dabbles in music and is trying to start a company. They met when she was new in town and not expecting a relationship. He moved in. She recently asked him to move out, so now he's couch surfing. They're still together but not like before, and it's hard for both of them. Some nights she'll talk to him at 11 o'clock and he doesn't know yet where he will sleep.

The last was a guy I was involved with for about a minute. The one who fell in love overnight and I found out about it on Facebook. He blew me off while I was wearing my amazing Dr. Who Tardis dress. I gave them until Halloween. They lasted until Thanksgiving. But I'm not cynical. I hear the breakup was dramatic.

Sometimes a breakup seems like it's tearing lives apart. But time heals. It always does. Then we do it all over again.

Love to the single girls,
Addison