Have you ever found yourself living with a love in the depths of your mind? Not the sort that tickles you every time it sweeps your periphery but the kind that you notice tinting the shadows in the world you see. You don’t have to hide from it; it won’t disgust you into turning away. But it stirs up the oldest fragments of a feeling that, with a little luck and magic, you can relive again for a moment.
     Think clearly, because the world has eroded since that past has happened. As you walk along you understand the difference between what’s behind you and what’s ahead but there’s always that one shade of love that follows you down your path.
     This kind of love isn’t easily discarded. In fact it’s almost clear to you it cannot be discarded at all. When it sprouted it took root so deep in your heart that it tangled with the very strings of your soul and a separation of the two is absolutely unthinkable. So you can cover it up. So you can build on it. So you can find someone new and love them with the same heart and with inklings of that underlying first love tucked away inside you. So it becomes new and reborn, different in appearance and holy all the same. Evolving as the times ripen it, refine it, prune it. Transforming into something truly beautiful, with all aspects of the child it once was. It is serene and mild in mind, passionate and strong in hand. This love is solid; it swells and crests but never runs dry.
     You might not notice it but this love keeps you walking on. Seated deeply in your mind is the knowledge that you will never find a love like this again. Planted in your chest is the instinct to create love with the same intensity and the same vigor. Powering your hands is the unquenchable search to show the world that first love you’ve come to know.
     It neither haunts you nor troubles you. Skillfully blended in your surroundings, sometimes it won’t show itself outright. But it’s there. The friendly ghost you’ve made peace with. A specter of the past that can color your future. It will never stray from your presence because the truest of true love lingers and remains.

May you never wander alone.