The Stars are on Our Side

by Jennifer Hartmann

My trauma isn’t my life. It’s nothing but an awful piece wedged between a million beautiful pieces.

“I’ll take your leftover pieces. I’ll cherish those pieces. And I’ll spend my whole damn life doing everything in my power to make your heart whole again.”

It is; it really is—but love? No, love is not fragile at all. It’s long-lasting, bone-burrowing, and unshakeable. Real love doesn’t snap or fizzle out because of circumstances and tough decisions. It doesn’t just dissolve because you want it to, because you beg it to. Those things only make it hurt. Those things only make it sink deeper, until you’re choking on that love. Suffocating. Bleeding out while still breathing. Love latches on to you, consumes, and then it haunts you. Forever. Love isn’t fragile. It’s fucking shatterproof. Unfortunately, our hearts are not.