I don’t really know where to start, but I’ll start by saying this:

I’ll remember us as the love I wasn’t quite ready for

A love that changed me

Jarring and jaded

Screaming, yelling

Until my throat burned red and tears streaked both of our faces.

I’ll remember us as the love that rocked my world

A love that transformed me

Raw and restless

Passionate, persevering

Until my heart learned that sacrifice and compromise are the tells of grown love.

I’ll remember us fondly, as the kind of love that just so happens to teach us something

A love that made us better for the world and better because of it

Hurtful, truthful

Sensationalized, Sisyphean

An uphill battle that we never did conquer.

I’ll always remember the moment we grew apart

When the goals we had together no longer matched up with the dreams we had for ourselves in our heads

Wrenching, weighing us down

Letting go, letting life lead

Inevitably, learning to be individuals.

I’ll remember us as the love that was afraid to let one another go

How we tried to grasp at air and hold onto our ghosts

Longing, wanting

That bond — to belong…

I’ll remember us as lovers and fighters; it’ll keep me wondering if we should’ve fought so hard

Years of patience and building made the love worth it. And if it was easy, would it have been worthless?

Friend or foe?

Unfamiliar, unsure now.

I don’t really know where to end, but I will say this:

I hold us in reverence, as a love that swept the soul

How we knew each other like we knew the sun would shine in the mornings

Steady and sure, certain

Priceless, pure

A love that aged like fine wine.

I’ll remember us like that book I’ve read a thousand times and will never get tired of

A love that was timeless, but with God-awful timing

Infuriating, ironic

Almost absurd

How could we go so wrong?

I’ll remember our love as laugh-filled, comfortable, scrapbook-able

A love patched into the seams of the walls of that Home like secrets.

Every second, each moment graced with deep gratitude

Embrace rest now, razbliuto

Sacred, somber

This is a wise love now, a last attempt at sweet surrender.