Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. – Seneca
Sivan Cruz and Walter Wainright are at the end of their beginning—the end of a marriage that had languished through years of raising a family, building careers, and going through the emotional and physical mimicking of a relationship that had long ago ceased to be a communion and had, over the years, become little more than a collaboration of convenience, more tedious than torrid.
Siv and Walter’s story is one that’s all too familiar, the story of two people who begin a new life with each other amidst the heat of attraction, and before all is said and done, it’s that life that’s got in the way of the weaving of a connection between spouses, the part of the family dynamic that has nothing to do with children and careers and has everything to do with friendship and being attuned to each others needs. To say that Siv and Walter grew apart would be true enough, but it might be more accurate to say Siv and Walter never had the opportunity to grow together, given the way their affair began. There was so much promise there, so much to hope for. But in the end, great sex simply wasn’t enough to build a marriage on, nor was it enough to hold one together.
Separated and on their way to divorce, Sivan is all about moving forward now, moving on without Walter because that’s what you do when you fall out of love with someone you’ve spent nearly two decades of your life with. Walter, though… Walter loves Siv every bit as much as he always has, but what does a man do when he’s the sort who speaks in actions and not words? He lets Siv go, that’s what, because he doesn’t know how to say, “Please, don’t leave.” Ironic for a lawyer whose job it is to argue in the face of every challenge.
Still is a beautiful story that begins at the end and ends at the beginning. It’s a story that shows how easily love can go still but not cease to exist. It’s a book that shows how easy it is to still love someone in spite of the belief you’re much better off without him.
This story touched my heart, made me a little sad, if I’m being altogether honest, but knowing this was a story written by Mary Calmes, I never lost faith she’d eventually steer Siv and Walter to their happy ending, and would take me along for the ride.
You can by Still here: