Dear ______,
I ran across some pictures of you and I while doing a little spring cleaning. Located with those pictures were all the poems and letters you ever wrote me. While looking through this assortment of keepsakes, I couldn’t help wondering, “WHY am I even holding onto this stuff?” I mean, what we had is in the past and we haven’t even seen or heard from each other in YEARS. But as I stared at your image, I reflected on a time where innocence was abundant. We shared a young love. We actually believed that our love for each other solely would sustain us as we made this journey through life. But it’s ironic that it was LIFE that separated us. As we struggled to find and take our places in adulthood…to assume the responsibilities therein…who knew that life would lead us down different paths…in different directions?
As I reminisce, I seem to focus only on the positive aspects of our diminished relationship. For some reason, all of the negative things seem so trivial and unworthy of drudging up. Maybe, for that reason, you still have a secure place in my heart. I still haven’t determined why I can’t let these things go. The words that flow from these pages in my hand mean nothing now…these pictures, merely snapshots of a time long gone. We are strangers now…and yet, I still cling to images of the past. I’m not ready to let go yet. So I’ll just tuck these things away in a box and push them back into the far corner of my closet to be retrieved at a later date…perhaps the next time I decide to do some spring cleaning. Who knows? Maybe then I will be ready to purge these remnants of my first love…
I keep holdin’ on…
