The hardest thing isn't watching it fall apart. It's knowing you're the one who has to walk away.

I've spent eight years loving Sean Thompson. But lately, I can feel him slipping through my fingers.

He's the captain of the Snowballs, a legend on the ice, and closing in on the end of his career whether he's ready to admit it or not.

I want a future-marriage, a family, a home. We always thought we'd build that in Calgary, but now my father's health is failing, and I need to go home. Not just for a visit-for good. But every time I bring it up, he acts like we haven't spent every Sunday dinner at his parents' house for our entire relationship.

Then the announcement drops: a huge pot of money for the winners of the Elite League Rose Cup. Now I'm watching him fight like hell to win a tournament when he won't do the same for me. I love him. But I can't be the only one in this relationship with elbows up.

Some things don't come back after the final whistle.

And I'm terrified we're one of them.