I try to recognize that there is no such thing as having it all - and it's impossible to be perfect. You just have to let certain things go.

I nod, thinking of how difficult marriage can be, how much effort is required to sustain a feeling between two people - a feeling that you can't imagine will ever fade in the beginning when everything comes so easily. I think of how each person in a marriage owes it to the other to find individual happiness, even in a shared life. That is the only real way to grow together, instead of apart.

He nods, as if to acknowledge that endings are almost always a little sad, even when there is something to look forward to on the other side.

I don't really know why I went to law school.

As everyone applauds and sips champagne, I smile back at Rachel, thinking she got it just right. Love and friendship. They are what makes us who we are and what can change us, if we let them.

The whole "misery loves company" thing never applies more than when you're breaking up. The thought that the other person is doing fine is simply too much to bear.

I don't break up, I trade up