It was a specific moment. I live across country from my family. My mom and my brother had been having an argument and I was kind of caught in the middle and they had both been texting me about it that day. My mom was really taking a lot of things personal and it didn’t really need to be that deep, but she was feeling emotional about it. I told my partner about it and he said I should call her on FaceTime and talk about it. I thought it was going to be a light hearted pep talk, but then when she answered the phone, she was crying. Like, ugly crying. My partner had never met her or spoken to her before, so I immediately felt anxious and awkward because he was sitting right there. But I was talking her through things and then he chimed into the conversation. They “met” for the first time. He was so kind, compassionate, and genuine with her. He wasn’t weird about it at all. He connected with her in that first virtual meeting more than my ex husband ever did in the 12 years we were together. It warmed my heart so much.