I know you thought that things were different with him. I know you felt like you two would be together forever. You could picture spending lazy Sundays in a tiny apartment, the two of you dancing in your underwear until 3:00 a.m. You could see pillow fights on rainy days; both of you two in love and to be aware of the outside world. I know you never dreamed of a future without him by your side.

When your dreams came true, he was the one you wanted standing next to you. Nothing could ever change that. No matter how bad the fight or length of separation, he’d always come back to you, right? He just had to. What was a life without him? He was also saving you.

You had so much in common, yet he allowed you to grow. He showed you a part of yourself that you never even knew existed. He made you feel alive, like for once you were truly living a life worth telling others about. The passion and excitement he brought to your life was unlike anything you had ever felt before. You were satisfied just being by his side. You didn’t need anything more. I bet half of the time you couldn’t even believe the life you were living was real. I know you still replay the memories in your head when you can’t fall asleep at night. His memory enabling a warm comfort against the darkness of the night.

I know you saw oceans in his eyes and built a home for him in your heart, but people abandon buildings all the time, no matter how beautiful or steady the foundation. He loved you, he did, but love isn’t concrete. Love won't plant someone by your side forever.

Love isn’t indestructible in stormy weather. Love is more like a delicate flower. It thrives off its environment, its timing. You both have to nurture it. Your love needs to be looked after, and even with adequate care and a beautiful bloom, you still never know if it will be blossoming tomorrow. Some loves, just like flowers, are just a fleeting beauty.

He was your fleeting beauty. You will never experience another love like his again, but you probably already know that. No other man could ever replace him, but who says that’s a bad thing?

Maybe starting over is exactly what you need. Maybe you needed a taste of what you thought was pure bliss to realize the type of man you deserve. Maybe you needed a love like his to realize how you deserve to feel. You deserve to be treated in a way that makes you feel like you’re walking on water. You deserve a love that looks at you like you put the stars in their life, which allow them to see at night. You deserve a man that truly sees you for who you are, your faults and all, and still believes that you can accomplish your dreams.

I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that you will move on and forget what his love meant to you. There will always be a little corner in your heart with a box marked with their name in capital letters. Their love will always be a part of you, but you will file their memories away in order to form new ones. You will never forget, but you will forgive. You will wake up one day without the immediate sadness that they are not the first thing you see when you open your eyes.

However, his memory can bring you hope for tomorrow. His memory can let you know there is a person with love like that to give to you out in the world, living and breathing the same air you do. But you have to remember that no love you ever experience is going to feel the same. You can’t try to make another man be like him. You have to forgive yourself and him, and you have accept that his love was a once in a lifetime feeling.

There is still room in your heart for another. You can accept a greater love than he was able to provide. You just need to believe. He’s not coming back, sweetheart. You have to accept that, but once you do, you can see the light that isn’t him. He wasn’t your only source of happiness. Be grateful for what he brought to your life, but wise enough to accept his absence. Be strong enough to let him go. Believe in yourself enough to build a new home.