Never ending love

 I close my eyes and see her as she was many years ago. We never had the chance to grow older together, but I guess we have, in a way. I tell her good morning and goodnight every day and send her a kiss upward into the clouds as I fall to sleep, dreaming she was beside me.

We were each other's first love, two teenage kids bound together by a first real kiss that I still taste to this day. We attended our first school dance, where we held onto each other, never wanting the music to stop or to let go of each other. It was a magical night. I go back to it by closing my eyes and hearing the faint music playing as my feet slowly move, and my endless tears of missing her flow down my face.

I hear her voice sometimes, so clearly, I look around me to see if she is really here. Maybe she is, but only in memory. 

Many years have passed, and I have lived a whole life, falling in love and having children who gave me great joy. Grandkids who light up my life and memories that have never let me down. But I can't help but wonder what life would have been had she not died so young.

Sometimes, I felt like I carried on with life because that's what she wanted me to do. One day in the not-so-distant future, we will meet again in the high school gym and dance into the night, not needing to speak but holding each other close, knowing the dance will never end and the music will play just for us.

Mike 2024