I see a lot of college-aged couples walking hand in hand, bundled against the cold.

Sweet indeed, those “Xmas break romances”: college students home for the holidays hooking up with other students, or friends left behind. There’s that “instant adult” feeling, mixed up with the short time lapse. A few weeks and then everyone splits. Those are the rules. I was blessed with two such relationships. With the first one, unfortunately, I didn’t understand that time limit shit, so I kinda got my heart scruffed up a bit. It’s really bittersweet. The romance culminated alongside the bandstand in the park, just a ways from the duck pond. No we weren’t on the stage. That would have been overdramatic, even for a music major and a psychology major!