Status Updates From American Wife

I have to assume there are betrayals in most marriages. The goal, I suppose, is not to allow any that are larger than the strength of the partnership.

I felt at once as if I were protecting him from and streeling myself for the destruction he didn't yet know that I would cause.

Was this what marriage was, the slow process of getting to know another individual far better than was advisable?

I couldn't have imagined at the time that the applause was the moment of my greatest professional achievement. It was the most public recognition I ever received for being myself rather than an extension of someone else or for being a symbol. A few teachers clapping is a humble triumph, but it touched me. In years since, I have received great quantities of attention, and I have never enjoyed it a fraction as much.