It's been a long day without you, my friend...

He could not tell if he loved you the first moment he saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But he remembers the first moment he looked at you walking toward him and he realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when he was with you. There is no pretending, he said with absolute clarity. "I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there's a life after that, I'll love you then." It was at that moment that he realised words were spoken that forever changed the landscape of love, for it is not an equation, it is not a contract, and it is not a happy ending. Love is the slate under the chalk, the ground that buildings rise, and the oxygen in the air. It is the place you come back to, no matter where you are headed.