A few years ago, on a fairly ordinary, cloudy Thursday afternoon, I went to the dentist. The dental hygienist was pleasant enough, and asked the fairly ordinary and benign question, ‘How’s your day going?’ as she rummaged through her supplies. I replied, ‘It’s been alright.’ She nodded without looking up. And in that moment I was flooded with a loneliness I’d never known before.

That morning I had gotten civilly divorced…”