Reference Sweethearts & LoveNotes, published in October 2022.
“Perhaps this was always love, and he was it…”
In October of 2022, I got the most excellent surprise. I found my childhood sweetheart. I found him! Now, wasn’t looking for him–like honestly searching? No. Not I wasn’t.
For the want of my daughter wanting to know more about her mother’s paternal family, I found him. I won’t lie to you, he still makes a girl feel 16 again. With that feeling, I wrote.
I kept writing. I wrote a book dedicated to him and us–and it was therapeutic.
When I wrote it, I wrote the last piece first (When Beale Street Talks), and then went back to the beginning. I had to admit to myself that love is still my first work. It is still what I desire to leave in the world.
I mean, being able to go back into my memories and remember…without trauma or heartache or fear.
I was able to remember what that meant to me–and conversely, I could put that in a place where I can honor that. I can now look back on that experience, and remember how innocent we were. Yet, it is as real as any marriage I had!
He, for the 30 years I have known him, reminds me that love is in the world. In finding him, my heart started again. It was a reminder that love–it’s still real.
With love being my first work, I cannot forget the one that made it to be so.
He still grins when he thinks of me, and I bit my lip when I still think of him.
I think that is as it should be.
I Breathe Fire 