Yesterday, Washington became the seventh state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage, as Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the necessary bill into law. Men on the street talked about "relishing" the moment, and Sen. Ed Murray, a gay Seattle Democrat, invoked "the other side of the rainbow." Especially in the wake of last year's rash of suicides among gay teens, it's a high hurdle cleared.
So why do I feel so empty inside?
Maybe it's because marriage feels empty, as a concept. Take me and Lindsay: In our three years, 10 days together, we talked about marriage precisely 642 times. I know that, because I kept a spreadsheet from the very first instance (Feb. 14, 2009: "said the word 'marriage' over v day dinner, she seemed into it and not freaked out").
And yet here we are, not together long enough to have had a child enter kindergarten, and already with irreconcilable differences. What if we had had a child? Where would we be today? And more generally, if we'd never mentioned marriage, would I be feeling this pain in my heart region right now like a glass splinter? It's probably acid reflux, but it's isolated to where my heart is and I only started feeling it this morning after everything went down.
So yeah, it's wonderful that we as a country are finally starting to equalize rights. But perhaps the right to marriage should also come with a class or a book or something that explains that you might not really want to dip your toe in that pool, that the pool is probably full of acid, and that Zen monks have it more right than we'll ever know.
Still though, awesome thing. Truly awesome, awesome thing.
A NOTE FROM HUFFPOST VALENTINE'S DAY EDITORS LINDSAY AND TODD, WHO BROKE UP THIS MORNING: We're not letting today's personal issues affect the quality content we bring you every Valentine's Day! Still, if you want to know exactly how Lindsay messed up, we are keeping a liveblog.