Love (Emotion)

October 16, 2020

Modern Love: He Married a Sociopath. Me.

My husband was trying to tell me I was “the only one” for him. “Don’t lie to a liar,” I said. It wasn’t a very romantic […]
September 25, 2020

Modern Love: Please, Lord, Let Him Be 27

He had been in Los Angeles for a month, but he said he hadn’t seen much. The ocean, a couple of record stores and the stretch […]
September 22, 2020

Tiny Love Stories: ‘I Didn’t Want to Like Him’

‘Don’t Ever Lose This Rock’ Six years ago, on a humid evening at an open-air bar in Vietnam, a tipsy acquaintance gave me a rock. She […]
September 18, 2020

‘Humility Is What Drew Me to Him’

“Can I get you two something cold to drink?” the poolside waiter said, holding a check over his brow to block the sun on that hot […]
September 1, 2020

How to Submit a Modern Love Essay

ImageCredit…Brian Rea Although Modern Love has evolved into a podcast, a book, a TV show and Tiny Love Stories in its 16 years, the column’s central […]
August 28, 2020

Will They See Me as a Son, a Daughter or a Stranger?

Unlike my mother’s usual emails (with the entire message crammed into the subject line), this one had no text, only an attached photo. I clicked on […]
July 24, 2020

Why Did She Leave Me There?

The gate to the orphanage was smaller than I remembered. Nearly 25 years had passed since I lived there. I wondered if coming back was a […]
July 17, 2020

Trying to Feel Love-Worthy (While Working for a Dating App)

As fascinating as it may sound, working in customer service for a dating app tends to be repetitive and mundane. During each eight-hour shift, I often […]
July 10, 2020

A Glimpse Into My Son’s Magnificent Mind

A tiny white heart marks a five-second video on my phone as beloved, one in which my boy (age 6 at the time) proudly displays a […]
June 26, 2020

As He Cut My Hair, I Wept

A few weeks ago, I gave myself a crew cut. I didn’t know how long it would be before I could visit a barber and figured […]