6. When an Accident Isn't Just on the Road

There are accidents on the road. And there are accidents in love.

In both cases, we’re usually convinced we did everything right: slowed down in time, watched the other vehicles, obeyed the signals. And then, despite it all — impact.

Sometimes soft. Sometimes harsh.
Sometimes barely noticeable, yet enough to bend something inside us or make us lose trust in the road entirely.

Love accidents are more insidious. No police come to file a report. There’s no objective assessment of fault. You can’t estimate the damage in numbers, nor order a replacement part for the heart.

But the consequences remain. Often invisible to the outside world, yet inscribed into every future connection, every new embrace, every little thing someone says — and we already worry about another collision.

Some people pull over after an accident. Others keep driving, pretending nothing happened — but never look at the road the same way again. Still others vow never to take that route again.

And then there are a few — touched by the accident, but not destroyed — who learn that in driving, as in love, we don’t seek perfection. We seek presence. Calm. The willingness to, if an accident does happen — be there for one another.

And not give up on the road.