Cassandra was my.... what is the word?.... i would say "girlfriend", but that wouldn't go far enough.  I would say "wife", but people would think that implied strict monogamy and involvement by the church and state.  I would say "partner", but when i would say i have a "partner" in the Bay Area, people would asked "What's his name?"  I used to use "SO" for "significant other" but that's kinda awkward.  "Companion" is too vague.  If i was speaking to somebody likely to have heard of polyamory, i would  have described her as my "primary."

at Burning Man 2000looking cute in shadesin my cubicle at Intellooking like the intellectual she is

Back when we began dating, this was my blurb for her:

Cassandra is... an overeducated, bohemian, east-coast wanna-be geek.  We share cultural values, intellectual interests, and a lack of personal boundaries.  Her personality is hyper-kinetic, exciting, turbulent, and adorable.

We first met standing in line for a rave in March 1998 at the Maritime Hall in SF, at which time we both had other relationships.  A couple months later we (then single) bumped into each at a screening of Modulations at Stanford, a documentary on the history of electronic music.  I gave her a ride to a Koinonea rave in Oakland; we danced like mad and cuddled in the chill space; and the relationship had begun.

at epiphany, the first rave we helped throwlooking cute in a beretlooking elegantadorable in futurist shades

By 2002, after we had been living together for a couple years, we started drifting apart.  She developed interests i didn't share, like watching sports in bars.  She started seeing another guy (i.e. she left me).  I moved to New York, she stayed in San Francisco.  We've stayed friends.