Letter from Mark

To my soul’s unrivaled scripture, 

Surprised is an understatement. As if personified, the moment you were gone, was the moment the ink stood still, as if it mourned your absence like I did. My pen has always been, and always will be the manifestation of my love, that in the absence of the muse, it refuses to flow.

I had always been in my own little ink and paper world and believed that was all I needed and that I was clinging to what I had been used to. Reading your words, it’s like hearing your voice again after all this time. I’ve spent several nights trying to find the right words – the words to match your courage and the resilience you showed despite everything. Indeed, you have taught me the meaning of hope, even when life is hard. 

Your letter made me feel better, and I can say that I understood that sometimes, letting go means starting anew. Life comes in seasons and you were my fall — the season that taught me how beautiful it is to let go, and how love, even when it ends, continues to color everything it once touched. I want you to know how much you mean to me, and that I carry you softly in my thoughts, always. May this letter be a promise of remembrance and perhaps, one day, a reunion. You wish me a good life, but do tell me—how does one live a good life without their life by their side? I think of you often as my heart also beats, and maybe even more than it does. 

Nora, I could not care less about the pounds you gain, a tooth you lost, or a nail you've grown. If I could see you again, hopefully not for the last time, I only hope to stare at the luminous eyes that mirror a quiet breeze on a midnight sky once again and drown in it. 

Yours, inked in hope, 

Mark