Immortal Love

Since I've finally admitted that I just might be a romance writer, I've been thinking a lot about love lately. But not the beginning of love--the part of the emotion that is so focused on in most novels--but the end.

Does love really end? Or is that phrase “I don’t love you anymore” a lie? Because, once we’ve started, can we really stop loving someone?

If you look at this world--all the divorces and breakups--you can easily answer yes. But I think there is more to it than that final good-bye. Love, no matter how we fight it, lingers. And you find yourself thinking about that person. Wondering what they are doing and how they are getting on.

Yes, you can stop loving someone. But not in a day. Or a month. Maybe not even a year. Because it takes a lot to kill love. Unlike falling in love--which can happen suddenly and unexpectedly--denying love takes work. Because love does not go away on its own. It has to be driven away. Whether by cruelty, indifference or a replacement. And it walks away, slowly, never running, always looking back with a question in its eyes. “Are you sure you want me to leave?”

People who disagree--well, you're fascinating. It must be lovely to walk away from love without regret or remorse. To blithely walk away from that person whom you proclaimed was your everything. I've done it, and I cannot describe the pain. A necessary agony, yes, but one that I never want to go through again.

This question of how love fades--either quickly or slowly--intrigues me. It makes me wonder if others can get over it faster than some. How tenacious is it?

I know that love has a different face for each person. It can be a mind-consuming inferno or a slow burn, but, either way, it affects you.

I've been thinking about writing a short story, perhaps an allegory, on the issue of how to fall out of love. There's a wiki-how on it (which, if you're looking to stay in love with someone, you should probably glance at as well and make sure you DON'T do those things). Hmm. The ideas are swirling. (And, if you've guessed, it probably will be a sad story.)