What Remains True

by Janis Thomas

you can’t miss something you can’t remember, and if you don’t miss it, you won’t be sad.

I remind them that every person on the planet is surrounded by loss. Life itself is a series of losses, is it not? In this world, happiness and fulfillment are products of successfully dealing with our losses.

She told me that happiness was not some elusive force that only showered down upon the deserving, but a choice we all make despite the fact that life is hard.

Marriage tears off the rose-colored glasses and forces us to look at each other for who we are rather than who we want each other to be. Rachel accepts me, warts and all. And I accept her for who she is. But I sometimes miss being adored.

And I know that even though the pictures won’t come with me, the love will. Because love is always. Love lives on.