First-hand accounts explaining why people ghost! Edited by @stellatan

“I feel like with the rise of A.I., people are swinging the other way pretty intensely,” she said. “I think when everything feels so impersonal, people do gravitate toward art.”

"We research preschools even as my family in America continues to ask when we’re moving back. They say China will likely attack Taiwan by 2030"

"Sitting between my little brothers at church, I would stretch out my arms beside me, palms up. Our unspoken sibling sign to 'do nice.' A term I coined because every night... "

"On Halloween, there you were, your face covered in black-and-white makeup, a thin braid splitting your face.... Who had you been in all our other lives, in which I felt I’d known you? A school-aged boy on the playground, a Mount Kailash guru?"

"Rafael was born on the Day of the Dead. Perhaps it was my deceased boyfriend’s way of saying hello, transmitting love. I could no longer blame him for my childless life — his death sending me into a spiral of grief that..."

"Mac’s spurs lightly jingled as he walked up behind me to view the golden western Colorado valley below. After four years of companionable friendship, I thought this quiet, handsome cowboy would never notice my unspoken love."

"When my twins’ eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., was canceled in 2003 because of post-9/11 concerns, I was saddened for them and myself. I had a crush on the teacher leading the trip, and had been eager to see her at a pre-departure parent meeting."

It was 2007, and after three months of dating, Mike’s dinner declaration was a crushing blow for me: “Serena, the most I can commit to is a casual relationship.”

RT @kadeemsonline: I’m not even joking when I say I really think this album is going to fundamentally change my life

"1986: When Jean left, I vowed never to feel that pain again, and haven’t been intimate since. I embraced drag: the annual Miss Fire Island Pageant, my friend Raven’s weekly La Cage show, more."

RT @Susanshapironet: Congrats to my former student @Chahinian on his gorgeous @nytimes Modern Love essay from his memoir-in-progress THE BE…

Dear Readers, old and new: Are there any lines from Modern Love essays or Tiny Love Stories that you hold close or turn to because they seem wise or true? Have you implemented any of the lessons embedded in these true stories in your own life? Tell us

RT @AP: Watch: A supermoon, the first of four this year, was seen above the ancient temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounio, south of Athens on M…

"I left a Christian cult. Tried Hinge, and the best conversation I had with a man was about Taco Bell. I switched my preference (I came out as a lesbian at 14, and was now coming back out at 27)."

"I see it like this: If a flight attendant smiles at you when asking if you want orange juice, do you think they are really into you? Or do you think they are smiling because it’s their job to smile?"

"Will cooked a lot, smoked too much and rarely let us see him upset."

"It didn’t matter that her legs didn’t work or that she relied on a feeding tube. All that mattered was filling the pail in anticipation of the blueberry coffee cake we’d bake later that afternoon."

"The sex might kill us. But, I’m willing to try — any ideas? Austria? Germany? London? California? Canada?"

Thank you to the brilliant @Susanshapironet and delightful @strandbookstore !!