Tillie Cole

The half-empty jar of a thousand boy-kisses.

“And my heart almost burst.”

“Our footprints in the sand.”

In both cases, a bond that no one could break.

I paused, letting the farewell sink in

Kiss eight hundred and nineteen was the kiss that changed it all. The kiss that proved that a long-haired brooding boy from Norway and a quirky girl from the Deep South could find a love to rival the greats.

“It will be like that, Rune,” I said with unwavering certainty. “We won’t end. We never will.”

“I’m not even thinking that far ahead,” I replied. “My life is here, right now, in this moment. All that will come later. Poppy’s my focus. She’s only ever been my focus. I don’t give a damn about next year or what I’ll do.”

“You may feel you’ll lose half of your heart when I go, but that doesn’t give you permission to live half of a life. And half your heart will not be gone. Because I’ll always be walking beside you. I’ll always be holding your hand. I’m woven into the fabric of who you are—just as you will always be attached to my soul. You’ll love and laugh and explore … for both of us.”

Why does it take a life ending to learn how to cherish each day? Why must we wait until we run out of time to start to accomplish all that we dreamed, when once we had all the time in the world? Why don’t we look at the person we love the most like it’s the last time we will ever see them? Because if we did, life would be so vibrant. Life would be so truly and completely lived.”