ONCE IN A LIFETIME

In the blink of an eye, thirty-five years have come and gone, but love has grown throughout our lifetime.

Our lives are a series of moments.

Interwoven, they tell the story of us.

Moments so extraordinary,

they’ve become snapshots in time.

Polaroids playing across my mind.

The first time I saw you.

The first time you held my hand.

The first time you kissed me.

We were so young then.

Pulled toward each other,

like a force of nature.

We came together,

bodies and minds.

hearts and souls.

We didn’t even try to stop the fall.

It was so fast.

We fell so hard.

So completely.

There were moments,

that took my breath away.

Moments that wrapped around me.

Moments that stopped time.

The moment we said our vows.

The first time we held our children.

The first time we let each other down.

The first time we shared grief.

Moments of loss and pain,

amid all the extraordinary.

I carry them too.

They’re part of our story.

Part of the journey that’s moved us.

Part of the rising,

and of the falling.

I try not to have regrets.

But, there are moments,

I wish I could change.

Choices I’ve made,

I wish I could take back.

Hurts I’ve caused,

I wish I could undo.

But, that’s part of it all too.

The learning and the growing.

Bending rather than breaking.

Forgiving rather than walking away.

There’s a sureness to us because of that.

A certainty that only comes with time.

And I understand now,

in a way I never have before,

there’s only one true love in every lifetime.

One heart that becomes home.

One soul that connects so completely,

with your own that the beginning,

and the ending no longer matter.

I know that now.

But only because,

I’ve lived it with you,

my beautiful once in a lifetime. 

JN Fenwick (© 2024) | mothjournal14