Previously on the X-Files

It was probably about four months into me being an empty nester

that Chase came back into my life.

He told me he had been divorced for a year.

It was every romantic movie you have ever seen.

It's almost every Taylor Swift song written before she broke up with someone.

It was magical.

It was amazing.

It was the best feeling ever. So we were

going to celebrate my birthday together and we had big plans. I remember thinking at first like,

is this too quick? But then it just felt natural and comfortable too. So maybe I should have

listened to my intuition then. But who would when you've known someone for that long?

So I fly back from Idaho.

I get back to Ohio.

It was maybe a day or two after I get home.

I get a phone call from him, and he's crying, and he tells me he's got something very important to tell me.

And he immediately blurts out that he has stage three cancer and he's dying.

Love bombing. Yep. Manipulation.

Check. Gaslighting?

Uh-huh.

Wow. I guess we really weren't the only ones.

You got that right.

...