Tonight marks the night, to the day, when my fiancee and I broke it off for good. After figuring out that an endless parade of sad attempts at finding someone to replace her was a fool's quest, I decided to go it alone for as long as it took.

Since then, I learned something. I have learned to love, without falling in love, have stripped off my armor and stopped trying to be the shining knight, and instead, decided it was better to be who I really was, stop fighting and start building.

I built a few walls, but I built a lot more bridges in the past two years. Where these bridges take me, I don't know, but I'm glad I built them all the same. They lead to shining cities, people who are not fortresses and citadels, people I can learn from. I let one into my keep, and she trashed the place. Others will at least do me the courtesy of removing their shoes before coming in.