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Laura
Terri tells Nick and Laura anecdotes about her ex-boyfriend, Ed, whom she lived with before she dated Mel. Ed used to physically abuse Terri while telling her that he loved her, which led to Terri’s somewhat confusing outlook about what constitutes love. She believes that Ed truly loved her despite his brutal treatment of her, whereas Mel doesn’t think that love and violence can coexist. After Terri broke up with Ed, he relentlessly terrorized and threatened Terri and Mel, to the point that Mel kept a gun in his car out of fear. Emotionally unstable and distraught over the situation, Ed attempted suicide twice: first by drinking rat poison, second by shooting himself in the head. A few days after the second attempt, Ed succumbed to the gunshot wound and died in the hospital, with Terri by his side (much to Mel’s chagrin). As Terri shares this story, she says that she still feels sorry for Ed.
Ed (Terri’s ex-boyfriend) Quotes in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
The What We Talk About When We Talk About Love quotes below are all either spoken by Ed (Terri’s ex-boyfriend) or refer to Ed (Terri’s ex-boyfriend). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
Quotes
“He was dangerous,” Mel said. “If you call that love, you can have it.”
“It was love,” Terri said. “Sure, it’s abnormal in most people’s eyes. But he was willing to die for it. He did die for it.”
“I sure as hell wouldn’t call it love,” Mel said. “I mean, no one knows what he did it for. I’ve seen a lot of suicides, and I couldn’t say anyone ever knew what they did it for.”
Mel put his hands behind his neck and tilted his chair back. “I’m not interested in that kind of love,” he said. “If that’s love, you can have it.”
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“Well, Nick and I know what love is,” Laura said. “For us, I mean,” Laura said. She bumped my knee with her knee. “You’re supposed to say something now,” Laura said, and turned her smile on me.
For an answer, I took Laura’s hand and raised it to my lips. I made a big production out of kissing her hand. Everyone was amused.
“We’re lucky,” I said.
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“But sometimes I have a hard time accounting for the fact that I must have loved my first wife too. But I did, I know I did. So I suppose I am like Terri in that regard. Terri and Ed.” He thought about it and then he went on. “There was a time when I thought I loved my first wife more than life itself. But now I hate her guts. I do. How do you explain that? What happened to that love? What happened to it, is what I’d like to know. I wish someone could tell me. Then there’s Ed. Okay, we’re back to Ed. He loves Terri so much he tries to kill her and he winds up killing himself.”
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Ed (Terri’s ex-boyfriend) Quotes in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
The What We Talk About When We Talk About Love quotes below are all either spoken by Ed (Terri’s ex-boyfriend) or refer to Ed (Terri’s ex-boyfriend). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
Quotes
“He was dangerous,” Mel said. “If you call that love, you can have it.”
“It was love,” Terri said. “Sure, it’s abnormal in most people’s eyes. But he was willing to die for it. He did die for it.”
“I sure as hell wouldn’t call it love,” Mel said. “I mean, no one knows what he did it for. I’ve seen a lot of suicides, and I couldn’t say anyone ever knew what they did it for.”
Mel put his hands behind his neck and tilted his chair back. “I’m not interested in that kind of love,” he said. “If that’s love, you can have it.”
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“Well, Nick and I know what love is,” Laura said. “For us, I mean,” Laura said. She bumped my knee with her knee. “You’re supposed to say something now,” Laura said, and turned her smile on me.
For an answer, I took Laura’s hand and raised it to my lips. I made a big production out of kissing her hand. Everyone was amused.
“We’re lucky,” I said.
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“But sometimes I have a hard time accounting for the fact that I must have loved my first wife too. But I did, I know I did. So I suppose I am like Terri in that regard. Terri and Ed.” He thought about it and then he went on. “There was a time when I thought I loved my first wife more than life itself. But now I hate her guts. I do. How do you explain that? What happened to that love? What happened to it, is what I’d like to know. I wish someone could tell me. Then there’s Ed. Okay, we’re back to Ed. He loves Terri so much he tries to kill her and he winds up killing himself.”
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