Our hours in love have wings; in absence, crutches.

Time is not one length. Beside someone you love, an evening disappears; apart from them, the same hours limp, and each one has to be carried. Nothing has changed except where your attention is, and attention is what makes duration feel long or short. The heaviness of waiting is not weakness, it is just what caring does to a clock.

When the slow stretch comes, give it something to hold besides waiting: work, a walk, another person’s company. Rather than counting down, mark one thing you will have finished by the time they are back. When the fast hours come, notice them while they are happening.