I broke up with Bill a long time ago. Was I really in love or was I just pretending he was the man of my dreams? Was I really in love or was I just desperate? But when it came to Bill, I'm pretty sure it was the real deal. I loved the guy.

As for Bill, I have to be honest: He did not love me. In fact, I never even crossed his mind. Not once. But in the beginning, that didn't stop me. I loved him, I believed in him, and I didn't even think he was a liar.

Anyway, I fell out of love with Bill early in the game — over gays in the military. That was in 1993, after he was inaugurated, and at that moment my heart turned to stone.

I'd had faith in him. I'd been positive he'd never back down. How could he? But then he did, he backed down just like that.

By the time Bill got involved with Monica, you'd have thought I was past being hurt by him. But much to my surprise, Bill broke my heart all over again. He'd had it all, he'd had everything, and he'd thrown it away, and here's the thing: It wasn't his to throw away. It was ours. We'd given it to him, and he'd squandered it.

Years passed. I'd sit around with friends at dinner talking about How We Got Here and Whose Fault Was It? Was it Nader's fault? Or Gore's? Or Scalia's? Even Monica got onto the list, because after all, she delivered the pizza.

Most of my friends had a hard time narrowing it down to a choice, but not me: Only one person was at fault, and it was Bill. The way I saw it, if Bill had behaved, Al would have been elected, and thousands and thousands of people would be alive today who are instead dead.

I bring all this up because I bumped into Bill the other day. I was watching the Sunday news programs, and there he was. I have to say, he looked good. He'd invited a whole bunch of people to a conference in New York, and they'd spent the week talking about global warming, and poverty, and all sorts of obscure places he knows a huge amount about.

When Bill described the conference, it was riveting. I could see how much he cared; and of course, I could see how smart he was. It was so refreshing. It was practically moving. To my amazement, I could even see why I'd loved the guy in the first place. It made me sadder than I can say. It's much easier to get over someone if you can delude yourself into thinking you never really cared that much.

Then, later in the week, I was reading about Bill's conference, and I came upon something that made me think, for just a moment, that Bill might even want me back. "I've reached an age now where it doesn't matter whatever happens to me," he said. "I just don't want anyone to die before their time anymore." It almost really got to me. But then I came to my senses. And instead I just wanted to pick up the phone and call him and say, if you genuinely believe that, you hypocrite, why don't you stand up and take a position against this war?

But I'm not calling. I haven't called in years and I'm not starting now.

Nora Ephron is a writer and film director.