Every Breath

by Nicholas Sparks

Over time, Kindred Spirit has been a repository of hopes and dreams in written form…and always, there are love stories to be found.

The destiny that matters most in anyone’s life is the one concerning love.

“Some might dispute the facts, but memories aren’t always about facts.”

I also began to see how the words would appear on the page, as if the story were writing itself and my role was simply to transcribe it.

the power to remind us that there are times when destiny and love collide.

I suspect that most people harbor a lingering sense of What if I’d followed my heart?,

A life, after all, is simply a series of little lives, each of them lived one day at a time, and every single one of those days has choices and consequences. Piece by piece, those decisions help to form the people we become.

Falling in love is the easy part; making that love last amid life’s varied challenges is an elusive dream for many.

They were, after all, part of that privileged group, and like all privileged groups, they believed they deserved their riches and advantages, no matter how brutally the original wealth and power might have been accrued.

Tru knew that the time would come when Andrew considered himself too old for such displays of affection, so he squeezed tighter, wondering whether any joy could ever surpass this.

“One of the great things about a leaf,” he said to her, “is that it reminds you to live as well as you can for as long as you can, until it’s finally time to let go and allow yourself to drift away with grace.”

but was it really possible to face death without any fear at all? To gracefully drift away?

Sometimes she asked herself why she still wanted him in her life, but deep down, she knew the answer.

When life with Josh was good, it felt like everything she wanted, forever. But when it wasn’t good, she admitted, it was terrible.

All she knew was that as unbearable as life with him sometimes felt, she couldn’t quite imagine life without him, either.

it felt as though it hadn’t been enough to sink the knife in her heart; he’d needed to twist it as well.

Common sense told her that begging someone to stay was often the same as begging someone to love you, and she was wise enough to know that never worked.

He longed to draw his mother, but her features seemed to vanish more quickly than his skill developed.

Da Vinci once said that art is never finished but only abandoned,

Throwing it all away didn’t feel right. For some crazy reason, part of her wanted to know these things were still around.

Winston Churchill once described worry as a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind that, if encouraged, cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”

“Sometimes it’s easiest to be honest with strangers.”

I mean, I enjoy my job, but that’s not what life is about for me.

the idea of growing a person within you, bringing it into the world and loving it with a kind of primal intensity feels…profound to me.

“But then, things don’t always work out the way that we imagine they will, do they?”

“Because sometimes, all a person needs is for someone else to listen.”

I’m not a risk taker. I just want to have fun.”

Sometimes a person just knows.”

He thought how relaxed they already seemed to be with each other, and how easy it would be to fall for someone like her. And that maybe, just maybe, he was already falling, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

You inspired and fascinated me, and I walked just a bit taller because you were by my side. Every time I held you, I felt as though I needed nothing else. I would trade anything to hold you just one more time.

a relationship rooted in comfort and trust and a lasting desire to be together.

reel of vivid images.

as if she were his ultimate destination.

With sudden clarity he understood that he’d fallen in love—and perhaps even that he’d been waiting for someone just like her all his life.

“People talk about truth like it’s the solution to all of life’s problems. I’ve been around long enough to know that isn’t the case, and that sometimes truth can do more harm than good.”

mean…I love my wife, but I’ve never felt for her the deep, burning passion that I felt with your mother.

Some things can’t be forgiven.

But some things were not meant to be,

His father and mother couldn’t find a way to be together, but Tru wanted to believe that he and Hope could be different.

“How do you feel about it?”

“I feel like I’m at war with myself—like two different people, who want completely different things. But…”

He’d always believed that anything was possible when it came to love, that any obstacle could be overcome.

He wanted her and only her, forever. But that wasn’t possible.

He could feel the words forming, but they stayed inside him.

The love I feel for you is real, and all the sadness that now comes with it is a price I would pay a thousand times over. For knowing you, and loving you, even for a short while, has given my life a different kind of meaning, and I know it always will.

being loved deeply by someone gives you strength, and loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Loving you has made me more than I was.

Naturally empathetic, he seldom offered advice. He would instead ask what she thought she should do, silently encouraging her to trust her own instincts and judgment.

Memories are a doorway to the past, and the more one treasures the memories, the wider the door will open.

but Hope had learned that a meaningful life was seldom about such things. It was about experiences and relationships; it was about health and family and loving someone who loved you in return.