Hello Beautiful

by Ann Napolitano

Imagine that I’m a house, and when I find my great love, I’ll become the entire world. Our love will show me so much more than I’m able to see on my own.”

What made her most excited about her future was the idea of finding more third doors. Her soulmate would qualify; he would be more than a boyfriend or a husband. He would see Sylvie, as if through a pane of clear glass, and not want to change any aspect of her.

Sylvie would love differently. She would celebrate whoever her beloved happened to be; she would be curious about his distinctiveness and sink into a love that was unblinkingly honest.

We’re not separated from the world by our own edges.” Charlie set down his beer glass, empty now, and rubbed his hand up and down his arm, as an example of one of his edges. “We’re part of the sky, and the rocks in your mother’s garden, and that old man who sleeps by the train station. We’re all interconnected, and when you see that, you see how beautiful life is. Your mother and sisters don’t have that awareness. Not yet, anyway. They believe they’re contained in their bodies, in the biographical facts of their lives.” Sylvie

He was his acts of kindness, and his love for his daughters, and the twenty minutes he’d spent with Sylvie behind the grocer’s that evening.

She would wait, forever if necessary, for a man who saw the expanse of her,

the reason he didn’t care what people thought of him and yet hundreds of people turned out for his funeral.

Her family was a mirror in which she recognized her reflection.

She didn’t think there was anything morally wrong with having sex with someone she liked but didn’t love, but a new loneliness had arrived deep inside her.

We hardly ever ask each other how we’ve been hurt.

It occurred to him, for the first time, that just because you never thought about someone didn’t mean they weren’t inside you.

“You’re depressed, not crazy. It’s not insane to be depressed in this world. It’s more sane than being happy. I never trust those upbeat individuals who grin no matter what’s going on. Those are the ones with a screw loose, if you ask me.

She felt like she was always sweating and endeavoring to look presentable at the same time.

About nyc subways bc same

“It was hard for me to accept the fact that we don’t choose who we love, because who you love changes everything.”

And besides, you can’t fail when you’re doing what you love.”

and no matter what happened next, she was love.

“It’s hard to explain, but our love was so deep and wide that it made me love everyone and everything in sight. Which included me.” She smiled wider. “I know it sounds silly, but I’m proud of myself. I guess for living a brave life.”

God… I love Sylvie so much ❤️

When your love for a person is so profound that it’s part of who you are, then the absence of the person becomes part of your DNA, your bones, and your skin.

“Grief is love.” Now Alice thought: Forgiveness is too.