This Is Not How It Ends

by Rochelle B. Weinstein

“I’ve been everywhere I need to go,” I answered. “Places you’ve never been . . . would never understand . . .” I was referring to my books, the stories that kept me alive and took me all over the world—their destinations only rivaled by the depth of what I’d come to understand about living . . . about life. “You don’t always have to physically go somewhere to experience something magical.”

“Forbidden fruit,” I replied. “Human nature. When we’re told we can’t have something, our desire for it grows.”

a certain beginning induces exaggerated, confusing feelings, and sometimes, not always, when a couple finally gets together, they forget why they were chasing each other in the first place.” He was watching me closely. “Desire like that can leave you very lonely and unsatisfied.”

“You should know that being alone doesn’t make a person lonely. It’s being around the wrong people.”

“When you love someone,” he began, “nothing should keep you apart.”

“If this is what you want, if this is what you need . . . I’ll give it to you. But let’s make one thing clear, Charley. This is not how it ends. This is definitely not how it’s going to end.”

Life throws shit at all of us, and it’s how we deal with it that defines who we are.”

Forgiveness is the greatest act of love you can give another human being. With forgiveness comes the ability to fully love—yourself and others.

Forgiveness is a gift. Life holds no guarantees. Happiness comes with risk.