- I loved him.
Maybe it wasn't like perfect and romantic
the way that, like, I had dreamed about it,
but I loved him and I, like,
just wanted that to be enough so badly.
- The Museum of Broken Relationships is an exhibit
revolving around the artifacts of our broken relationships.
They're the kind of things that you don't wanna throw away.
You're too attached to to donate.
Not a lot of monetary value here,
but like the types of things
that you would probably save in a fire.
- I ended it and it was really, really hard.
I think it's the most heartbroken I've ever been.
- Literally he said, "I guess
"I'm just shallow about bodies."
You immediately feel like you're worthless.
- There was a period where it was getting really bad,
that he was acting up, calling me every name in the book.
- I felt, like, my soul shift in a way
that I've only felt in deaths.
- I would like to be okay with being heartbroken.
- This is toothpaste, the used thing of toothpaste.
The boyfriend always used the same type of toothpaste,
and then once the partner got to the end of this toothpaste,
that was like the end of the relationship after he was gone.
- The dog collar light.
Apparently, they used to put it on their dog,
just to wander off in the night.
- They broke up and the woman took the dog
and she was too emotionally wrecked to take care of a puppy.
I got a puppy when I first got divorced.
She sort of saved me.
- I mean I guess she really liked meat smokers
so he gave it to her, and then when they broke up,
she put it on his porch and it just sat there.
At first, everything is always so new and bright and shiny,
like new love is just so exciting.
And then when it's over, it just dies.
- It's 6:40 AM. What the heck am I doing?
You look so cute, you were sleeping, blah, blah, blah,
so I left you a note.
That was very typical of him in the beginning.
But it was all a ruse and I can see that now.
- This is a shirt that was worn
on the day her husband told her their marriage was over.
It's a sweet shirt and she felt like
she was going out to a nice lunch,
and then her whole life was gonna change.
I don't remember what I was wearing
when my husband told me what had happened.
I'm glad I don't, I'm glad I don't have a blue chiffon top.
- That's an example of what not to do for a guy.
Silicone breast implants.
Especially for a four year relationship.
- I'd rather try and fail, whereas you would prefer
to hold back and maintain it didn't work.
And then it really all started to crumble.
That's kind of how I feel.
Not that he wasn't all in, maybe I wasn't.
It's just a salad spinner, it's collapsible.
- This is a melted phone.
It reminds me of one of the instances where
he was like screaming at me in the car,
and I started recorded him on my phone.
He was like, "What are you doing?"
And I said, "I'm recording you,"
and he grabbed the phone, opened the car door
and smashed it, I think twice, on the asphalt.
- I think a lot of the time,
you want to believe in something,
even though when you know it's maybe
not the way you would like it to be.
- It's helpful to know that you're, like, not alone,
of course, but also that, like,
you can have a sense of humor.
It's better to embrace the silly
than just sort of like bottle it up and wallow.
- There are just so many items that seem insignificant,
but on the whole, they sort of
sum up an entire relationship.
- A natural thing for people is to want
to connect other people's pain to their own.
- It's those little tiny details
that make my relationship so unique to me,
and that's true for everybody.
- It's what abusers do, they distance you from
who you're close to so you don't really have an out.
Having an outlet is freedom.