I was out of town because my grandmother was dying. As the priest was giving her the Last Rites, he told me over the phone that it was unfair to him that I had been spending so much time with my family and no time with him over the previous four days. He also wanted to know when the funeral was scheduled to be, so he’d know when I’d be coming back home. She was still alive.

—Mel

Aftermath: I hung up on him after calling him selfish, and broke up with him very shortly thereafter.

While living abroad, I dated a guy from the local area. When it was time to return to the U.S. we split on good terms, partly because he said he just “wasn’t at that place in his life.” Then, two weeks later, Facebook told me he was in a relationship with a girl he had claimed was just a friend. A friend who lived a couple thousand miles away.

—Kate

Aftermath: She was pregnant less than two months later. And I thanked God it wasn’t me.

One of the most important things for me in all my relationships is to say “I love you” when we’re saying goodbye. It started because my parents always said “I love you” every night at bedtime. When my first boyfriend neglected to return the usual “I love you” before signing off AIM, it was over.

—Annie

Aftermath: Lasted a few weeks longer. Ironically, I ended up meeting his father and making a very good impression even though I already knew it was over.

It was over when I gave her a Kon stuffed toy, from the Japanese anime series “Bleach.”

—etivacenyo

Aftermath: She kept it and now were just friends.

He yelled at me for leaving a ketchup packet on the counter of the hotel that I had paid for. He said I was disgusting and ungrateful and lived like a pig.

—Desiree

Aftermath: I stayed with him to be in his sister’s wedding the next month but a week after that we parted ways.