You're not alone...

I've decided that as much fun as my own personal heartbreak is, it's time for me and everyone else to see that they're not alone. That is why I will be bringing to you a different true story of heartbreak every week. The names will be changed to protect the innocent, but hopefully you will still get the message that these experiences are natural and unfortunately typical.

1. Tara
Tara is one of my best friends for many years now, and we met in college. When we met she was dating her high school sweetheart, and they had been together for about 4 years. "Simon" had even transferred to the college that Tara was attending. Simon was a few years older, but just as much in love with Tara as he could be. I thought that they were the perfect couple and would be together forever. They had even discussed how he would give her his grandmother's wedding ring, and how many kids they would have. The two of them were attached like peanut butter and jelly, which was alright with the rest of us because we loved them both. In fact they were so much alike they even began to resemble each other. Unfortunately their bliss would not last forever. One day Simon stated that he was working on a project with Rita. Tara at first was a little jealous, but both Simon and I informed her that Rita was terribly unattractive. You see I was actually friends with Rita, and though I thought she was a nice person, she also had greasy hair, didn't shave under her arms, had a bit of a stache and frankly was just unattractive across the board. So to conceive that anything would happen between Simon and Rita seemed preposterous. Tara was gorgeous and Simon was the star football player from high school, so the idea that Simon might be interested in Rita made no sense. As time went on Simon began to spend more time with Rita, and Tara began to get increasingly jealous. It even got to the point where Tara had Simon tell Rita that he couldn't spend time with her anymore. However, one day Tara had a suspicion that Simon was in Rita's room, and concocted a plan where we would go over and confront him. So, without any warning we walked into Rita's room and found them laying in bed together (fully clothed). Tara went running out and Simon charged after her, and they spent some quality time talking and discussing while Tara cried profusely. It turns out that Simon's feelings for Rita were not platonic at all, and he did want to start dating her. Which he promptly began to do. Tara was devastated. To lose her boyfriend and love of that many years, and to lose him to someone that no one, save Simon, found attractive really hurt. It took her a little while to get over him, but we rallied around her while she cried and made sure that we hid or got rid of anything he gave her. It is many years later now and she is happy and living with her boyfriend of several years, and Simon is a distant memory in the past. But, lessons can still be learned from the situation which are these: not even the most perfect appearing couples are as perfect as they seem, and even the most "unattractive" girl can help break your heart.