SentenceStartersforWritingAboutRelationships

Each of the entries below are opening lines from a Times article or
essay. First, you will see the original sentence. Then, you will see a
generic sentence starter with the specifics removed that you can use
as a prompt for your own piece of writing.

1. Times sentence, from The Day the House Blew Up: We went out to
the house last month to celebrate Valentines Day. But then the house
exploded.
a. Sentence starter: We went to [place and time] to
celebrate Valentines Day. But then
2. Times sentence, from In a Wedding Album From the Citys 5
Borough Halls, Tales as Varied as the Rooms: It was just another
Saturday night on Queens Boulevard two years ago when Eddie
Ellis and Gladys Corcino pulled up beside each other at a red light
near 65th Street.
a. Sentence starter: It was just another [day/time of the
week] on/in [location] when [name] and [name]
3. Times sentence, from Love in a Hard Place: Ive done a lot of things
Im reluctant to admit in public. Near the top of the list is proposing
to the woman I wanted to marry atop the Empire State Building.
a. Sentence starter: Ive done a lot of things Im reluctant to
admit in public. Near the top of the list is
4. Times sentence, from I Call Your/His Name: I first met Tim
Donohue on the set of a movie we both had been working on in
upstate New York.
a. Sentence starter: I first met [name] at [place].
5. Times sentence, from Saying I Dont to Release the Anger: The
bathroom door really said it all.
a. Sentence starter: The [object] really said it all.
6. Times sentence, from A Brief Electronic Affair: H
e friended me just
after Thanksgiving, Week 13 of regular-season football this year.
a. Sentence starter: [Name or pronoun] friended me just
after [date or event].
7. Times sentence, from A String of Bulbs Was Our Guiding Star: We
never expected that we would want to be anywhere but in Denver
for Christmas.
a. Sentence starter: We never expected that we would want
to be anywhere but in [place] for [event].
8. Times sentence, from High School Redux: Paul was one of my best
friends in high school, but we drifted apart after graduation.
a. Sentence starter: [Name] was one of my best friends in
[school grade or period of time], but we drifted apart
after [event].
9. Times sentence, from On the Precipice, Wings Spread: On paper,
Theo appeared to be the worst boyfriend possible: 41 to my 19, a
recovering alcoholic and father to a spirited teenage daughter who
lived nearby with his ex-wife.
a. Sentence starter: On paper, [name] appeared to be the
worst [type of relationship to you]: [list of reason(s)
he/she was the worst].
10. Times sentence, from Vows: Lia Batkin and Seth Kaplan: If, as
legend has it, soul mates are bound by an invisible thread, then by
the time Lia Batkin and Seth Kaplan discovered each other, their
lives had already been woven into a dense tapestry.
a. Sentence starter: If, as legend has it, soul mates are
bound by an invisible thread, then by the time [name]
and [name] discovered each other, their lives had
already been woven into a dense tapestry.
11. Times sentence, from Love in a Hard Place: Invulnerable and Free
As Only Youth Can Be: I went to Murrow and Rianne went to
 Midwood. She was the prettiest girl there. She had a great big head
of curly brown hair.
a. Sentence starter: I went to [school] and [name] went to
[school]. [She/he] had [physical description].
12.Times sentence, from Wesleyan: Romance Crushed: He had a
personality, a sense of humor, and was even a good dancer, so when
he said offhandedly that he would watch Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind with me over Valentines Day weekend I couldnt stop
smiling.
a. Sentence starter: [He/she] had [personal attribute],
[personal attribute], and [personal attribute], so
when [he/she] said
13.Times sentence, from Finding Forgiveness in a Ziploc: One morning
last summer I blew up at my husband in La Guardia Airport just
after we had gone through security.
a. Sentence starter: One [time of day] I blew up at my
[relationship] in [place] just after
14.Times sentence, from My Saudi Valentine: Tomorrow will be my
second Valentines Day in the United States. As Ive discovered, the
celebration here bears little resemblance to the one I know from
growing up in Saudi Arabia.
a. Sentence starter: [Day] will be my [ordinal number]
Valentines Day in [location]. As Ive discovered, the
celebration here bears little resemblance to the one I
know from [location].
15.Times sentence, from Is the Husband Going to Be a Problem?: I
first met Brendon at a student watering hole called the Dutch Goose.
a. Sentence starter: I first met [name] at a [type of venue]
called [name of site].
16.Times sentence, from Falling Off the World: Craig was an
unemployed architect, a cat-owning vegan and recently divorced.
 The man was wrong for me. And yet I couldnt get him out of my
head.
a. Sentence starter: [Name] was a/an [short description].
The [related noun] was wrong for me. And yet I
couldnt get [him/her] out of my head.
17.Times sentence, from A Love Letter to a Camera: I dont often write
love letters to gadgets. But you, youre something special.
a. Sentence starter: I dont often write love letters to
[object]. But you, youre something special.
18. Times sentence, from The Hardest Lesson to Learn: I broke up
with my boyfriend because too many proper nouns had come
between us.
a. Sentence starter: I broke up with my [type of
relationship to you] because [person, place or thing]
had come between us.
19.Times sentence, from The Man Who Blesses Horses: I first saw her
in 2009 when I went to my first Kentucky Derby.
a. Sentence starter: I first saw [name or pronoun] in [year]
when I went to
20. Times sentence, from The L-for-Love Train Goes to
Williamsburg: It turns out that the L train, that horizontal hotbed of
hipsters, is also a popular place to fall in love.
a. Sentence starter: It turns out that [place] is also a
popular place to fall in love.
21.Times sentence, from Somewhere Inside, a Path to Empathy: It
wasnt working, any of it. Our third year of marriage threatened to
be our last.
a. Sentence starter: It wasnt working, any of it. Our
[numbered event] threatened to be our last.