The List

Bekka handed me a list of the ten things about myself I would need to correct if we were to stay together.

“I don’t expect you to correct all of these at one time so take a month. That’s fair—don’t you think?”

She wasn’t looking for a response to that question so I hugged her goodbye and went back to my apartment. I’d been staying more at Bekka’s place than mine and while we talked about moving in together it seemed this list was the culmination of our talks. I could’ve given her a list, but why? Instead, the next day I went to her apartment and packed a box of my things, careful not to take anything that we bought together.

Today, the tenth day I took the last of my possessions and left Bekka a bouquet of Gerber Daisies--her favorite. We hadn’t contacted each other since the passing of the list. I keep her list as a guideline to work on for my next relationship since it is a reasonable and accurate list but could have been accomplished, for the most part, with simple conversation.

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