Anne Hill, in “The Three Most Important Words in Any Relationship”

This essay isn’t very long and it’s completely genius in its simplicity.

It suggests that you can find out all you need to know about the health of a relationship by asking the other person, when they get up from the table or couch, “While you’re up, can you…?”

This comes down to a lot of what I feel is lacking in many serious romantic relationships—that sense of selflessness that turns this potentially loaded question into a non-issue.

(via jaclynday)(via maryanne)

I’m not saying these are the 3 most important, or even the 3 most telling words, but that I hadn’t thought of them before like this.