Boy meets girl. I was 16.
Boy & girl grow up together.
Boy gives girl ring. Promises future.
Boy leaves girl. No longer a girl. I was 30.
The facts don’t tell the whole truth.
They rarely do.
For how could these simple facts tell the story of first love, promise and heartbreak without being a cliché?
I once read that however long a relationship lasts is how long it will take to get over it when it ends.
That was true for me.
While there was no happily-ever-after, this story lead me down the path of personal development, which lead to the work I love.
And that?
Has made all the difference.
“…Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
– Robert Frost
Short and sweet and tells everything. Thanks for sharing.
What’s interesting to me is I’ve written it out in more detail and it didn’t have the same impact. Love when I’m surprised like that!
Stories are amazing that way, aren’t they? Love the story.
I thought about writing another version of it for one blue berry. What do you think?
Yes, please!!!!
Isn’t it amazing … how the harshest things are simultaneously the biggest gifts. Big hugs to you for turning it into something amazing!
Honestly, now in hindsight, it was the best thing that could have happened 🙂
I’m with Noel, you turned it into such a beautiful piece. Shows how far you’ve come with it I think.
Truly appreciate your words.
Cheers to finding your life’s calling. Relationships of any length add value yet all of them end.
Wait–that’s MY story!
Except I wasn’t 16, I was 21. And 32 when we got divorced. But yes, not at all what I expected.
And my wonderful sweetheart now is also nothing like I ever expected. (Almost the polar opposite of what I thought I was looking for, in fact.)
Life is strange and mysterious and oh, so grand and magical, isn’t it?
Love this story, Sandi, and I look forward to reading it in any other incarnations you put out there!
Life is also funny! It’s disconcerting to see that my story belongs to others as it was so intensely personal and traumatic. But thank God for time and the healing that eventually took place…for all of us 🙂
I was 16, he was 15. When he left, I was 32. Yes, all the therapy, self-help books, 12- step programs & hard work paid off. Brian found me while I was doing the work. I’ve now been with Brian longer than my Ex. He still lights up when I walk in the room. Without all that work, he’d have never found me attractive. Grateful.
I love that he still lights up when you walk in the room. Does a heart good to hear that.
So true, you could never tell the story of all the minutes and days and hours and nuances that make up a relationship.
And yet, I know exactly what you mean.
The who’s and what’s that have entered my heart since it was broken have made for some of the best times of my life. I’ve just begun the journey of which you speak, similar path, I was 15 at the start and 37 at the transition, but love hasn’t finished with me yet.
“love hasn’t finished with me yet”
I love that you said that Tameka! I thought it had finished with me way back then and much to my surprise and delight it had not 🙂
THIS – “The facts don’t tell the whole truth.They rarely do.” – is the standout line from this post, I think. something we have to remember always and often, and it can be so hard. thanks for sharing this with us, sandi.
We are who we are because of those whom we choose to love :).
Ahh, if only we remembered that when our hearts were breaking.
So true…my first love took about 10 years to heal (from a year and a half relationship).
“Hindsight is always 20/20” -Billy Wilder