When you say "I love you" to someone, it is supposed to be forever, at least, that is the plan for most couples. But, sometimes, even in the best of relationships, commitment is always forever and occasionally there comes the need to say goodbye. What happens when one person decides to walk away but the other person decides that they are going to hold on to the embers of a dying or dead love? It can be harder for the person who will not let go, especially if they do not want to face up to the facts.

Take a young couple from New York as an example. They got together while working at the same company and things were going well until some major changes came along. First, she was offered an executive position which would require a move from their home state to one of two different locations. In the midst of making this major life decision, the couple also found they were expecting a child. They agreed that on where they would move. They also agreed that eventually she would either return to work full time or would agree to have a second child. And, so, they moved and the child was born.

Fast forward nearly a decade: the man has had several different jobs at varying levels in the retail field, unable to stay put in any one position for very long. She has put off the concept of having that second child for as long as possible but now he is really starting to push her to get back to their original plans. They are fighting nearly all of the time now, acrimonious fights that spring up out of nowhere and spiral quickly out of control. Finally, she has had enough and she asks him to leave.

He is convinced that this is only a temporary thing, that she will need him to come back quickly. After all, he is sure that she cannot accomplish anything on her own, discounting the fact that she had been in a supervisory position over him when they met and had continued her education even after things had started going bad between them. What he does not realize is that things really are over between them, no matter how much he wishes and wills them to be better. He will be unable to move on with his own life, unable to accomplish any of the things that she has managed until he digests the fact that they are no longer a couple and never will be again.