tiny love stories 2022 calendar, pt 1.

[hyojungss]

tiny love stories page-a-day calendar 2022:
Hundreds of humorous, heartbreaking, hopeful, and poignant stories of love, all told in one hundred words or less.

tiny love stories is an extension of the new york times modern love column, and about four new stories are posted on the nyt website every tuesday. i believe the calendar has a few stories that have already been published by the paper, but i'm still seeing most of them for the first time. here are some of my favorites from the first half of the year!

✽

Who Cares Less?
Thursday, January 13

He hooked up with someone else. I never texted first. He didn't show up to meet my sister. I was still talking to my ex. We were stuck in a game of Who Cares Less? I won. But really, I lost. —Caroline Kulig

The Flamingo Connection
Friday, January 21

Peyton posted a picture with his flamingo, Lisa, wearing a Santa hat. Lisa had an Instagram account, so I followed it. He texted: "I see you following my lawn flamingo on Instagram." I replied: "You tagged it in a photo. What other option did I have?" The texts got longer. Christmas slid to New Year's and eventually to an evening watching the stars. I asked him why he'd texted me; he asked why I'd responded. We both knew. I'm thankful for that flamingo. "She's the only girl I'll ever love," he once said. But that's not true anymore. —Kate Bellows

Dating Advice from Dad
Wednesday, February 9

After church, eating cinnamon buns at a diner in Carson City, Nevada, I asked my father for dating advice. I was frustrated by the men I had met on apps. He chewed, nodded, and smiled. A professor, my father relishes the opportunity to provide wisdom. "Abby, successful relationships are about shared values and companionship." His words didn't fully resonate until months later, when Laura approached me at work in the hospital's courtyard while I was reading on lunch break. When she invited me to join her queer book club, my father's words drowned out my cautious inner monologue. —Abby Yee

Burnt Honey
Saturday, February 19 • Sunday, February 20

We graduated from the same culinary school but met working together at food events. I developed new food products that she styled for photo shoots. For more than ten years, I ignored my feelings for this beautiful woman: so smart, funny, talented, and—married. One night at a cookbook launch party, we stood in a dark studio in Austin, Texas. She told me about her favorite new dish, wings coated with burnt honey. When she touched my arm, my vision tunneled. Nothing I could do. Remembering that moment a month later, I re-created the dish. It was delicious. —John Bartel

Dakota's Best Prom Date
Monday, February 21

I was Dakota's prom date so long as he could not "find anyone better". We are married now. I guess he couldn't. —Megan Kline

Missing Him
Thursday, March 10

My husband urged me to pull over. I was sobbing, an increasingly regular occurrence. "I can't do this without you," I said. "You can," he said. "Lots of people do." "But we're supposed to grow old and crusty together!" "You get to grow old and crusty," he said. Then, his smile fading: "I want you to know it's OK if you meet someone. Be open to the possibility." Violent head shake. "Nope, you've ruined me for other men." Pat on my knee, that beaming smile back, "You've ruined me, too, dear." How I miss you. —Stephanie Martin Glennon

No Joke
Friday, March 11

We are both named Phoebe. This means our path to love has been littered with disbelief, laughter, and confusion. It was hard enough coming out in a lesbian relationship in our late 20s, but a relationship between two people with the same name? People say, "You're joking, right?" But it's no joke that when we moved the fridge during our kitchen renovation, she saw my rainbow writing on our wall, asking her to marry me. And it's no joke that she said yes. And I'm not joking when I say that my life is very nearly perfect now. —Phoebe Wallner

"Old Never Happened for Him"
Thursday, March 24

Randy was a good Jewish boy; I, a shiksa. Nevertheless, we dated in college, happy until the Vietnam War intervened. He served while I went from Sorority Sue to protesting hippie. Time passed, we moved on. The month of my wedding, Randy called, asking me not to go through with it. That night I got very drunk. The wedding happened, life progressed, my husband died. In my heart, I knew Randy and I would end up together when we were old. Old never happened for him. I still see him in my dreams. —Kathryn Jarvis

A Man of Few Words
Tuesday, April 5

My father's words worked hard. He used as few as possible. "I love you," I told him before I left for college. We were varnishing the gunwales of the canoe he had given me. "There's a holiday," he said, pointing to a spot I had missed. "I love you," I told him as I pulled out of the driveway in an old car he had found. "You should say you love me back," I said. "Write if you get work," he said. "I love you," I said when he was older and unwell. "That's good," he said, his eyes full of love and mischief. —Peggy Moss

Escaping to Before
Wednesday, April 13

If a pandemic cancels the remainder of your spring semester, and your recent ex decides to suspend the rules of your breakup in case "the apocalypse" keeps you apart forever, and you find yourself lying once again in his bed, your faces flushed, the afternoon humming by outside, take your time with leaving. The future will charge onward, but for now you can allow the memory of other lazy days you spent in this bed to envelop you entirely. You would like to believe this feeling transcends whatever comes next. For an hour or two, it does. —Lily Goldberg

No Such Thing as Effortless
Monday, April 25

My best friend and I started dating in high school. For six years, we cycled through breakups and reconciliations, brought back together by a mutual need for security. Our identities were so wrapped up in our relationship that we couldn't bear to imagine ourselves alone. She wanted therapy. I demurred, hung up on the seeming effortlessness of "good" relationships. So she broke things off, for good. Today, I'm a couples therapist. The only thing more potent than this irony is my hope that our story isn't over yet. —Jacob Wollinger

India Is an Ache
Wednesday, May 4

Landing in Mumbai feels like releasing a breath I didn't know I had been holding. My husband remembers India as dirt, poverty, noise. I remember the aroma of masala-fried pomfret, the generosity of gruff cabbies saying, "No, madam, you keep the change," daylong cries of crows, hawkers, doorbells. In America, I play music to fill silences. For me, India is no longer a country; it's an ache. I left the place I love for the man I love. It's not a complaint. I'm only saying that sometimes, the most unconditional of loves are also the most inconvenient. —Kanika Punwani Sharma

Two Astronomy Nerds
Thursday, May 19

It was supermoon night, the kind astronomy nerds long for. I had an exam the next day and my nose in a biology textbook when this strawberry-blond girl asked if anyone knew how to get to the observatory. It's a through-the-woods kind of thing, but I did, in fact, know how to get there. We hiked with phone flashlights along two trails to the top of the hill. Looking at our moonlit shadows, we sat silent. Heading back, we got lost, and I traded a leaf for her number. —Ethan Bradley

It's OK to Feel Fear
Tuesday, May 31

My daughter couldn't fall asleep because she was scared. Nothing helped—not the back rub or child valerian drops or my assurance of no monsters. She spiraled into hiccupping sobs. I pleaded, "Honey, everyone's scared of something." "No! You're not scared of anything." "I am!" "What are you scared of?" I tried to think of some comforting half-truth. "See? You're not scared of anything!" "I am," I whispered. "I'm scared of... getting old... and my anger. And consumerism, stupidity, children without attention spans, distracted drivers, and—" "OK. Have good dreams, Mama." She turned and fell asleep. —Karen Rizzo

She Stretched Like My Cat
Tuesday, June 21

Wendy was one of my favorite single-mum friends. She had a disconcertingly careless way of stretching that reminded me of my cat. Her stomach was toned, and her T-shirts were tight. One day, she turned up at a friend's house with a girlfriend. I was so cross that I started avoiding her. She assumed I was homophobic. I missed her optimism and her endless enthusiasm for gossip and chocolate. Eventually, I tossed a coin and invited her over for a drink. I was terrified. We got married last year. Turns out, all that stretching hadn't been so careless after all. —Joanna Lambert











BONUS

Everything New for You
Tuesday, July 5

Barbecue. Introduction, joke, smile. Friend request, message sent. First date: loud restaurant, easy conversation. Second date: "Sushi?" Who cares if I've never eaten it; I'll try it for you. Third date: meeting your friends. I'm not too social, but for you I'll try to be. "This isn't serious," I say. "This isn't serious," we say. One, two, three, four, five years pass. "This still isn't serious." Who wants to be serious? Still don't know what to expect, but why obsess over expectations? I will still try everything new for you. Because I love you. —Aleks Fedoriw

Comments

[goaltender]

these are so lovely... shared values and companionship :')

[hyojungss]

yes i think honestly that's one of the best descriptions of what i would want out of a relationship, and how wonderful do you think it'd be to live in a world where those things were more important than societal traditions

[carboxyl]

this is wonderful and tender ... always love ur compilations <3 will look forward to part 2 too !

[hyojungss]

that is so sweet, thank you 🥹 i will happily make the second half but it is nice to know when other people are enjoying the curation too!! 💕