I’m not a fan of keeping mementos. I believe in the broad scope of relationship experiences that keeping the past fresh in your mind also keeps it present. I also understand that there is an inherent historical inaccuracy when looking backwards; as time moves forward you’re reviewing past events from the perspective of who you are now. Not to mention that memory is impression and nowhere near fact. So why would I keep any? Well, this goes against my earlier advice on getting past breakups but in some cases where pain and loss are tempered with an acceptance of what was, what is. When that exists looking back becomes contemplative and not depressive. What is life without contemplation?!
In my small collection of mementos this one is by far the sweetest. I don’t remember the date, the exact circumstances or even what exactly it was that I felt the very first time I read it. In the grand scheme of things I keep it because it stands on its own merit….
DaVinci would have gladly painted you but no portrait could begin to convey what it is to sit across from you in conversation. Shakespeare would have eagerly celebrated your wit in prose yet no words could fully describe what it is to behold you. And there is not artist for there is no medium that could ever capture the moment of your kiss. And so it is merely me who gets to experience you completely. It is my soul alone whose embers glow fiery red from taking in the full breath of your company. And with that breath my dreaming mind takes sail…I feel I could paint better than the master, write more sweetly than the bard, sing out from mountain tops to let the world share my joy, to let them all know that because you exist you’ve proven that the wildest of dreams can come true. And yet really all I want to do is be next to you now and breath in.
…that and years later reading it still makes me smile.
Esprit De Escalier 