I've got one of those exes, and we've been back and forth for 10 years now. She shows up every time her life is in the toilet and she needs to be rescued again. If I wait awhile, I know she'll be back telling me how much she "needs" me and how she can't live without me.

And why do I put up with this? Because she's the only one who has the intelligence and the creativity to hold my interest. She's the only one who has never tried to domesticate me. And the 6 months here, 8 months there, I get to spend with her at various intervals, are just so much better than the inevitable 3 months of lies and boredom and manipulative goatification attempts I get from everybody else.

Sure, it would be nice to find someone who was like her in the ways that matter, but a little more consistent. But I don't think any such person exists....