There seems to be this unspoken assumption that the value found in an intimate relationship is measured by how long it lasts. People announce their time-in-relationship as sort of a status marker, but we all know people who stick with relationships over the long term, and are just miserable about it.

I had an eight-year-long marriage to someone I love very much. That ended 12 years ago, but it was a valuable set of experiences. I wouldn't be the same person today, without having gone through it. That's value I see present in my life, regardless of the fact that we didn't stay together forever.