Forever and Forever

We try to map out our lives as best we can; we seek love on well-defined paths, which lead to even clearer destinations. But between the red-letter days that are pre-printed on calendars, and the age-defined celebrations, come all the in-between moments that actually define love.

If Cupid’s arrow made a hole in our heart with someone’s name upon it: someone of great substance, worthy of our devotion, with whom we were able to share life then inevitably there will come a time when we are faced with the worst - a truly unimaginable moment. A midnight black cavern of immense pain and untenable aching will appear, and we have no choice but to walk through. The wretched moment when we say a last goodbye to our beloved.

Like the fragile rays from a weak winter sun we stumble across the dry desert, swept along by pain, longing for what is not, and desperate for the relief that only time can bring. Time does not care, and as minutes feel like hours, and hours feel like days, know that hidden in the magnificent package that is true love, there is a security blanket, which may be used in just such an emergency.

You will not know it’s presence until, in the inky darkness, you stumble across its gentle and calming gift: that although we may loose our partner, the love that was shared is still very much alive, and nothing and no one can ever take that away. Love cannot get sick, love cannot be stolen, love never dies - and as long as one is here to remember, love will always be there.

Love is more than scents, memories and photos. It is the teachings, the healings, and the gift of the self that has transformed us, more than we will ever know. Love does not leave just because one of the participants does. The very experience of having a love of such high caliber is why the pain is so immense. But would anyone trade the immeasurable joys of pure love, along with it’s inevitable soul -crushing pain, for a life where love is no more enchanting and captivating then tepid lemonade?

Both alone in the quiet of the days and nights to come, and when the arms of those who care for us are wrapped tightly around us, sharing a measure of our pain, we will find that love is walking with us, and will continue to do so, forever. For love, with it’s wisps and tendrils, which seek out all the many moments of our existence, is a soul unto itself.

With great love for Karen.