While on a recent skiing trip, I had a casual dinner with casual friends, including a couple that had been married, divorced, and were now dating again. As is so often the case, on the surface, they looked great together, so it seemed natural that the conversation went in the direction of “why did you two break up?” and whether or not they had anything in common.

The woman laughed and said, “it’s a long story,” at which point she began, without missing a beat, telling it to us.  It boiled down to the simple fact that she and her partner really enjoyed each other but basically had nothing in common.  He liked adventure trips, she liked resorts, he liked aggressive skiing and starting first thing, she liked a relaxing breakfast, followed by a leisurely time getting ready to go out, he wanted kids, she didn’t, etc.

It was almost comical and, in fact, they were laughing at each other and ultimately acknowledged all they really had together was a general feeling of comfort and familiarity.