Augusten Lovin'

I've mentioned before how much I love Augusten Burroughs work. It's hard to pick a favorite book of his, mostly because they are each about such different phases of his life, but "Magical Thinking" is always a book I recommend. "Magical Thinking" is a collection of stories and one of my favorites is about his partner, Dennis.

"I watch him in the kitchen, and I think of how much it hurts to love somebody. How deep the hurt is, how almost unbearable. It’s not the love that hurts, it’s the possibility of anything happening to the object of your love. Like, I would not want Dennis to lose his mind. But I’d be much more fearful of me losing my mind, because then he’d be the one left alone.

Just like I want him to die first, so that he doesn’t have to lose me and then be alone. Or if I do have to die first, I want him to find another boyfriend beforehand, I want to hand-pick somebody and then get to know this person and make sure he’s up the task. I imagine there would be paperwork involved, with serious consequences if he breached the contract in any way. Love, unconditional. Or else you will lose your 401(k) plan, and your credit report will be forever destroyed, and there will be prison time."

Just a little bit of lovin' to celebrate Valentine's Day.