I wonder if it is human nature to feel the need to destroy something beautiful when it is no longer ours.

The end of a relationship is always hard, but just because it is ending doesn’t mean it was bad… maybe it had just run its course.  We’re afraid to move on, afraid that we’ll never find someone else who loves us the way you did, afraid that as soon as you walk out of the door, we will never feel the way you made us feel ever again.

Desperation in the face of the unknown causes people to lash out, to use whatever tools they have to attempt to keep you.  You never go for the kill, when you can go for the pain.  Maybe if we hurt you enough, you won’t forget us…  

But is that really what we want you to remember? 

I don’t want you to remember me this way… hurt, angry, confused, and using all of my might to say anything and everything to ruin the memories that we built together.

I want you to remember me as I was… full of life, joy, and happiness.  The smile that made you smile, the laugh that you had to laugh along with, even if you didn’t want to, and the confidence that made everyone else around me strong.

We should be able to walk away without first trying to destroy as much of those memories as possible.

There will be no later, there will be no next time, and by the time we see each other again, we will have forgotten everything that we once were to each other.  But that’s okay… that’s life.  We built it together.  Just because it is time to walk away doesn’t mean we have to destroy it… we should be proud to leave something beautiful behind.

If we let it be, just as it is, then maybe, just maybe, years from now we will bump into each other on some crowded street corner, each living our own lives exactly as we dreamed, and instead of feeling awkward and uncomfortable, we will be able to smile in remembrance of what once was, let our hearts be touched for a brief moment, and then continue on our way.