For the next few weeks I will be publishing excerpts from my forthcoming memoir Always With You.
Each excerpt will also have an insight into and the significance of the excerpt. (See below)

A paragraph from Chapter 4

It was the only way forward, I knew that now. The only way out of this mess I had created. Yes, it would hurt us both in the short term but not as much if I allowed the relationship to continue down the same path. It was, on balance, the least destructive thing I could do, but knowing that didn’t make it any easier. My heart broke as I posted the letter through his front door and I retreated back to my house. I couldn’t contemplate a future without my parents – after all, they had supported me all these years, loved me, encouraged me and given me the opportunities to pursue my goals. After everything they’d done for me, I owed it to them to do the right thing. It didn’t feel right for Jeremy and me but this was the sacrifice I had to make in the deliverance of my duty to them. That night I cried myself to sleep, imagining Jeremy in his room, just a few feet away, so close and yet a world apart. 

Significance of this excerpt:

A few months after being with Jeremy I broke up with him. I did this even before I told my parents about him – because I knew they would never accept him. I loved him with all my heart – but I knew I had to choose – him or my parents. I had met Jeremy when I had bought the house next door to his. So, when I broke up with him, I couldn’t even put any distance between us physically. And yet, we were from different worlds…it would never work! I couldn’t (and wouldn’t) give up 21 years of a relationship with my family for a man that I had only known a few months….

Look out for Excerpt 4 coming soon
Shalini