“Whether you’re single or taken you should never be afraid of great love, big love, the kind we read about in the storybooks.”
Yesterday I watched a video that brought me to tears at my desk; my friend Christine Estima posted a YouTube video of herself speaking at a pub in London in which my incredibly brave and strong girl told a crowd of strangers her story, it was heartbreaking.
Christine was in a relationship with a man she lovingly called Lugs and after a whirlwind of romance it ended, the last line she spoke to the suddenly quiet cloud were her last words to Lugs, “You are the love of my life.” It was powerful, beautiful and it made my heart ache but then it made me think, maybe we don’t only have one love that intense maybe our lives are filled with many loves.
Before Boyfriend I thought the Big Ex was the love of my life and before that I thought my seventeen year old love affair in Thunder Bay was the biggest love I would ever feel; in truth I still love those men but not because I want to be with them, I love the memories they left me with, I love that I stood on a bridge at midnight listening to a man tell me he’d never loved anyone as much as he loved me. The time the Big Ex told me that I was the best accessory he could ever have, that moment is precious still.
Today I feel like Boyfriend is the love of my life, I feel as though I will love him forever but if it does end I’ll remember that he had a toy sasquatch made for me, I’ll remember that he believed in me when I didn’t remember how and I’ll remember that first time he showed up at my house with a smile cookie and an ice cappuccino because he thought that would make me happy.
We can’t know the future; Christine didn’t know that she would love someone enough to leave them when things stopped working and I don’t know that I’ll always be with Boyfriend but if we stop believing that this one could be a lifelong love then what’s the point? Everyone should be brave enough to fly to a new land for love, because even if he isn’t the one you end up with you’ll have a story and a memory that reminds you that love is everywhere and it can happen at any time.
Christine is an inspiration to all of us, she believed in the fairy tale; she knew that love was worth a chance and in a world filled with apathy that is something we should all strive for. Today Boyfriend is the love of my life but I’ve had many loves in this life and while he may be the most important one it was the loves before that brought me to him.
Whether you’re single or taken you should never be afraid of great love, big love, the kind we read about in the storybooks; no one ever wrote a sonnet about that kind of OK night with that dude that one time.
