Written in the Scars

by Adriana Locke

Maybe that’s what love is, something so beautiful and perfect that you can only feel it.

waiving erratically.

waving

“Bruises go away, Tyler. Scars stick around to prove you showed up for life. That you lived. That you fought. That you loved.”

“You can’t expect a relationship to succeed based on the love you felt at the beginning. It succeeds because you continue to build on it until the end.”

that initially drew in,

drew me in

The foundation of a marriage is love. The walls of a shared life are built with trust, loyalty, and respect. Once those are torn down, there’s nothing left standing.

Even though I haven’t done it, even though I’m not sure I could’ve done it if I had the money, it’s inevitable. My heart knows it. My fears feed it. My soul loathes it.

Ty holds me, occasionally shushing me like he would when I heard a story about a disadvantaged child at school and would come home in tears or like he does when I cry at the end of Steel Magnolias.

TRUTH!!!!!

“All this shit will only make us stronger, like a scar that has healed over. That skin is stronger than the area around it. It’s been to war and won. That’s us.”

“We are going to find the love. We are going to love each other so fucking much that we either forget the pain or we can’t feel it anymore. That doesn’t mean we forget the baby,” he says, a shake to his head, “but it means we honor it by loving each other.”

“Look, maybe you just haven’t found your path yet. But you have time to figure out what you were put on this Earth to do and who you’re supposed to love. You’ll get it.”

Pulling my husband as close to me as possible, I soothe him the best I can in the midst of my own suffering. Just as I feel myself start to go over the ledge, I feel him. I feel Cord. Like a rush of warmth from a mid-afternoon sun, I know his spirit is here.

This one was premediated.

premeditated

“Cord’s life was cut unfairly short and I refuse for it to be in vain. His death will not be something we cry about today and go to work tomorrow and forget. I won’t allow that.” “Cord gave his life for my husband and brother. His bravery, his selflessness is unparalleled. I challenge each of you to live your life the same way.”

“Life isn’t easy. Love isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to just put your fears aside and go for it. I learned that from Cord, the man that thought he couldn’t love,”

Love fully, even when it gets hard. Give forgiveness, even when you aren’t sure the other guy deserves it. And in every friendship you’re in, don’t forget to actually be friends.”

Life does pack a punch. But it’s the scars that make us who we are, that tell the story of the life we lived.