André Aciman

And yet my life started here and stopped here one summer long ago , in this house , which no longer exists , in this decade, which slipped away so fast, with this never love that altered everything but went nowhere . "you made me who I am today , Nanni." Wherever I go , everyone I see and crave is ultimately measured by the glow of your light . If my life were a boat , you were the one who stepped on board , turned on its running lights , and was never heard of again. ... ...
We love only once in our lives , my father had said , sometimes too early, sometimes too late ; the other times are always a touch deliberate .