We broke up two months ago, and since then, to make peace with her, I have had to make peace with myself. The end of the affair is this: Our callings and paths have grown too far apart, and I will not see her for years yet, so now we are friends, good friends, and will probably never be more than good friends ever again. I will hold the past eight years dear to my heart, and my heart and hands will always be open to her. But now, we must go down our separate ways as God leads.

It’s a sad, lonely, anticlimactic way to end a love which we and others cherished for so long; but when a heart is changed, how can love force it back to its old ways? As the song by Sting goes, If you love somebody / If you love someone / If you love somebody / If you love someone / Set them free / Free, free, set the-em free”

I’ve had two months to heal. No grudges, no regrets. This is life, and the pain is part of it. I would be less of a man for not feeling it, but now I will look forward.

This is my last melodramatic post on the topic. I’m okay, all’s well, Good Lord’s on his throne. Rejoice.