Chapter 176 : the Virgin Mary. Some time after that, I began dating the Virgin Mary; it was my first real relationship. While the Virgin Mary was many good things, she was not at all what I needed. She often asked me, over the course of our year and a half relationship, what it was that I wanted from her and from our relationship. I could never seem to explain these things to her in a way in which she understood. In a final, desperate attempt at making her understand me, I made a book for her containing exerpts from my buffers of conversations with Clio in which we had discussed the same sort of issues revolving around what we wanted out of relationships. I realized, in compiling the book, that I'd always had an easier time talking about such things with Clio and that she understood me when the Virgin Mary did not, that she seemed to be on the same level as I was, so to speak. I should have taken a hint at that, but (alas) I did not. Upon reading the book, the Virgin Mary began to tear up and, turning to me, proclaimed that she finally understood; we broke up a few minutes later. Through all of this, Clio and I spoke only occasionally. I still felt horrible for hurting her. Late at night sometimes I would get out of bed and read over the old buffers of our conversations and old emails from her. She used to write me the most wonderful poetry... >>  chapter 177  >>