When exactly did things go wrong? Was it when they yelled? They always yelled. Was it when they cursed? They always cursed. Was it when they stopped hugging? Stopped kissing? I can’t place my finger on the single moment when it went wrong. Maybe it was always wrong.

When did they stop uttering the words “I love you?" When did they stop sipping coffee together in the living room every Sunday morning? I remember those mornings. They would talk and laugh but soon the talking turned to arguing and the laughter turned to screaming. Soon two bodies in one room became only one.

Was it because the kitchen was too small? They were always bumping into each other.

Was it because they didn’t have enough money? They were constantly arguing about expenses and how there never seemed to be enough.

When did they stop doing things together? When did they stop celebrating Valentine’s Day and their anniversary? Didn’t those cards they gave to each other mean anything?

Didn’t they mean the promise they gave to each other at their wedding? They meant those two words at one point in their lives. They meant “I love you” at one point. They cared for each other at one point.

But that point soon became a thread that they were barely holding onto.

They didn’t do nice things for each other anymore. They didn’t complement each other anymore. They didn’t look at each other with admiration anymore. They didn’t love each other anymore.

They were two lovers that drifted apart. They weren’t the same people they were 27 years ago. Life had happened. It had changed them. And that change didn’t bring them together — it tore them apart.

Two lovers became two bodies. Two bodies sitting at dinner together. Two bodies working in the kitchen together. Two bodies sleeping next to each other.

These bodies were not the bodies in the picture frames. They did not have eyes that crinkled in the corners from smiling — their eyes were tired and lacked excitement. Their bodies were not hunched over from joyous cackling — their shoulders were slumped from exhaustion. Their gazes toward each other were no longer there.

One couple became two separate individuals. One duo disintegrated.

One cracked marriage that finally broke.