This is a story I’ve kept to myself for a long time. I had heard of a kind of folk charm: prepare your dining table with two place settings of dishes — your own, and a matching set for someone you have yet to meet. The idea is that doing so quietly invites a partner into your life.
For a long time I had been single. Out of curiosity, I bought a matching set of dishes and arranged them on my table.
Without my realizing how it happened, I found myself dating a woman who would become my partner. We ate meals together at that very table, using the dishes I had prepared. If I had only set one place, I’m certain we never would have started, and we would never have shared those meals.
We are still together. Every morning, she makes breakfast for us both, and we eat from the matching dishes that began this whole story.