This Is Me Letting You Go

by Heidi Priebe

That eventually, I’ll meet someone new—someone who loves the foods you hate, laughs at things you don’t find funny, and appreciates the parts of me that you once left undiscovered.

This is my conceptualization: That someday, I’m going to have a wedding, and that you will not be there.

This is my acceptance of the finite absurdity of knowing that I will someday promise my life to someone who is not you and that I may even be happy to do so. That one day, I’ll see changes and beginnings in a way I never saw them with you.

This is me knowing that we’re going to grow old. That your life is going to be huge and important and chock-full of love, but that it’s all going to transpire without me.

This is me knowing that I have to let you go. That no matter how much I love you, how hard we work at this, or how badly we both want each other to be happy, we are never going to be the right partners for each other.

This is me knowing that I have to do what’s right. That sometimes, the best thing you can do for someone you love is to let them go—to do more, feel more, and be more than the person they could ever have become by your side.

This is me letting you go.