There is a legend in our family that women are cursed in our house. They are beautiful, smart, determined, but they will never be wanted. It's funny among grown women, but for a young girl it can be a life-defining factor and influence her later relationships. I grew up like that and it took me a long time to shed that defining phrase: We don't really need anyone. We're not meant to be partners. I now watch this process play out on my sisters, observing through them how we pass on to each other our flawed coping strategies for loneliness.