When I woke up that winter morning, all I wanted was to walk. It was my favorite season. That walk would change my life forever. It was on that walk that I both met and lost the love of my life. I remember it as if it were yesterday.
"We can't be together anymore." Those four words tore my life apart. A whirlwind of thoughts rushed through my head. Was I stupid? Was this a dream? I desperately wished it were. As my thoughts halted and tears swelled in my eyes, one question consumed me: Did he ever love me? I sat there, mouth agape, tears falling, seeing his lips move but hearing no sound.
Snapping back to reality for the first time during the conversation, I looked into his eyes and saw the pain I was causing him. Without thinking, I whispered, "Did you ever really love me?" Seeing his heartbreak right before my eyes was agonizing, but I couldn't take the question back—I needed to know.
In one swift motion, he pulled me into his arms. "How could you ask me that? Have I ever given you a reason to doubt my love? You are my first, my last, my one and only true love." He asked for one last walk together as a couple. I agreed, though all I wanted was to go home and cry myself to oblivion.
As we walked, I could think of nothing but how we were so different, yet so alike. We weren't like the rest of the world; we saw things differently. We always said that's what brought us together.
Now, ten years later, I was going through some old things. At the bottom of my jewelry box, I found a letter he wrote years ago:
Hey Michelle,
How is the Big Apple treating you? We haven't spoken in so long. What has it been, five or ten years? I'm back in town for a couple of weeks. I came to see you, but your mom said you moved away a long time ago. She told me you're married now with two beautiful kids. She thought it would be good for me to write to you.
There's really nothing I can say but this: I will always love you. You will always be my first, my last, and my one and only.
Love,
DerekP.S. Don't forget the walks. Don't ever forget the walks.
Sitting there, I remembered that final walk and how everything changed from that moment on. I decided I would never forget those walks. I would teach my children to see the world differently, to never judge a book by its cover. I will always love Derek for what he taught me and for the lessons I learned.