I'm Adely Mone and this is The Slowdown.

I am a bit of a romantic.

When I was at a sleepover at my friend Missy's house in 5th grade, we watched Romancing the

Stone and I was so eager to see the two leads fall in love that I was the only one really

watching the movie.

My friend Missy said, Oh, I see, Ada is a romantic.

And it's true.

Missy was right then and she's right now.

I love love.

Once before I was married, I made a toast to my husband.

We were living in Kentucky and he was probably working.

I held up my glass of wine and stared at him somberly and said something about how

grateful I was for our life together for our relationship.

And at the end of the toast, we cleaned glasses and he arched one eyebrow and said, Did

we just get married?

So yes, I can be a bit over the top in my love of love.

And when I was single, I could romanticize strangers or chants and counters or brief

affairs into something they were not.

My imagination would form attachments based on ideas or dreams.

And each time I'd come back to my body into myself and realize that every email or note

or side long glance was not always the beginning of a romance.

Yet while it was happening, I think I was somehow different from everyone else.

...