If you’ve been around my husband and I for any length of time, you’ll pick up on something very quickly; Sergey and I really like each other. It might be the way he’s always slipping his hand into mine and then sticking his tongue out at me. It might be the way I switch between chomping on his shoulder and hugging him. Proximity with each other necessitates contact of some sort. And this has been a constant from the early days of our dating.

Around the second or third year of our seeing each other, Sergey brought a request to me that I found unthinkable.

“If we’re in a fight, or if we’re angry with each other, please don’t withdraw physical affection from me.”

His plea shocked me. Scenes from my childhood ran through my mind.

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