Reinhard Gouw's Journal

"I believe that it's like drawers", he said.

"You open one drawer, fill it with stories, and sometimes at a certain point, you have to close that drawer. Maybe one day, you'll open a new one. That doesn't mean that drawer is gone. It will always be there. It's a part of your life. It's just not relevant in the present."

I think I've lived long enough to say that I don't agree with phrases saying there can only be one to true love in your life-- the others are just trials. I don't think it's fair that even after you shared some part of your life with someone, went through the good and bad, knowing their past, present, and future, endured one another's best and worst, shared certain depths of feeling— you have to know that they're not real.

I think I've lived long enough to say that you don't stop loving someone. If it's truly love, it stays there in another form. The kind where you always hope for their best. Their happiness. Even when they hurt you in the past, or you hurt them. You just want them to have a good life. And excel in it. Even without you in the picture. You let them go, and want them to let you go. You don't necessarily long for their presence in your life, nor your presence in theirs. There's a sense of beauty in knowing both of you carry on with your own journeys.

I think I've lived long enough to say that despite that, you could still have the capacity to love someone new. To open another drawer and share it with someone, filling it with wonderful stories together and hoping for it to last. 'Cause love is a beautiful thing and you don't have to curse love when it doesn't work out for you in the past. Even though there's probably no one true love, there might be one true drawer. One that will manage to stay open for the rest of your journey. One where you manage to pass the outgrowing processes by keep growing for each other until you find the stability to grow with the same pace. Until death do you part.