{i carry you in my heart}

Hey World,

Do you remember when I told you about the day my heart exploded? 

Well, there is something that I need to share with you all: It turns out that hearts can implode too. 

Hearts can be broken. They can stop beating. They can cease to exist. They can slow to zero beats per minute. They can be stunned into a shocked silence that leaves you feeling numb.

And love?

Love can be deep. It can be all-encompassing; it can swallow you whole and become you - you will feel it be reflected in every thought and every movement. Love can manifest in hugs and together-time, in shared glances and whispered secrets. Love can wake you up in the middle of the night to glance sideways and make sure your love is alive. Love can disrupt your being, and love can give you a reason to feel alive. 

But love can also be short. It can end abruptly, unwillingly, in a split second. It can end before you're ready, before you ever planned on letting go. 

Here's the secret that everyone knows but no one likes to remember: Love can leave you. 

It can make you feel broken and bitter; it can physically shatter you into a million tiny heart-shaped slivers or seep out of your pores so slowly that your body aches. It can make you wish you never loved. It can make you believe that a finite love isn't worth the heartbreak of a lost love. It can make you forget why you exist, and why love exists, while questioning the power of ceasing to exist.

But we mustn't think that way. We must be grateful for love, even, too-short, passionate love.  

So I promise to keep our love alive, to keep the story alive, to keep the memory alive, for as long as I can. 

I will not forget our love. 

And I will not forget you. 

xoxo,

M