I'd been aware of his blemishes and limitations all along, and I had decided I could live with them, as I expected him to live with mine. I had never anticipated that I couldn't live with being put on hold. I felt like a VCR on indefinite pause. Most machines have safety features that auto-stop. Those that don't end up with distorted images and wrecked tapes.
Relationships are dynamic.
They grow and change constantly. A healthy relationship evolves from infatuation to a more mellow and long-lasting connection. Mature adults need to move through these stages. Staying at one level for too long feels stagnant and moribund or, conversely, too intense for comfort. In either case, it's not healthy for the relationship or the partners in it.