I think my dad was happy. I phrase it like this because he seldom showed much emotion. Hugs and kisses wwere a rarity for me growing up, and when they did happen, they often struck me as lifeless, something he did because he felt he was supposed to, not because he wanted to.
Savannah sometimes sounded a lot like the little voice that had taken up residence in my head but never bothered paying rent, and right now it whispered that if I felt guilty, maybe I was doing something wrong.
It doesn’t sound so far-fetched, right? When two people love each other? While a part of me still wants to believe it’s possible, I know it’s not going to happen.
I’ve learned that memories can have a physical, almost living presence.
Proximity bred familiarity, and familiarity bred comfort.
There are lots of real men out there – men who could fall in love with you at the drop of a hat.
Real people had real agendas, real demands, real expectations about how other people should behave.
Now it was coming to an end, and it was like he was watching the last flicker of light wink out in the darkness of an endless tunnel.
Finally getting control of myself, I kissed her again, then brought my hand to her face, gently running my fingers over her cheek. I marveled at the softness of her skin, the gentleness I saw in her eyes. Even now she was perfect.
That speaking the words, even if true, had little power to change the inevitable or even make him feel much better.
Early on, he’d learned to enjoy simple things, things that couldn’t be bought, and he had a hard time understanding people who felt otherwise.
Where does a story truly begin? In life, there are seldom clear-cut beginnings, those moments when we can, in looking back, say that everything started. Yet there are moments when fate intersects with our daily lives, setting in motion a sequence of events whose outcome we could never have foreseen.
Loving someone and having them love you back is the most precious thing in the world. It’s what made it possible for me to go on, but you don’t seem to realize that. Even when love is right there in front of you, you choose to turn away from it. You’re alone because you want to be.
It’s okay to be sad. Everyone gets sad now and then. Even me.
She’d preferred the uncertainty, if only because it allowed her to remember him the way he used to be. Sometimes, though, she wondered what he felt when he thought of that year they spent together, or if he ever marveled at what they’d shared, or even whether he thought of her at all.
It was one thing to divide the major assets, but how was it possible to divide the heart?
How had I become middle-aged while the ravages of time ignored her? I didn’t know and didn’t care, and before I could stop them, the words were already out. “You’re beautiful,” I murmured.
I don’t know that I’ve ever felt as happy as I did that day, but then again, it was always like that when we were together. I never wanted it to end.
Beauty might prevail in the very short term, but in the medium and longer terms, cultural norms – primarily those values and norms influenced by family – were more important.
Life, he decided, was for living, not for having, and he wanted to experience every moment that he could.