You are so loved
By everyone
You've made such a huge impact
You've touched every life here
Changed them
Improved them
Bettered everyone around you

I barely even knew you
But that didn't stop you from making me feel
Like we could have been friends forever
You showed what it's like to go the extra mile
For just one person

Never asking for anything
Always giving
A smile
A kind word
An encouragement
You strive to make people feel important
We should all do more of that
The world would be better
We would love more

That's why we're here in the first place
To love
And you do
And will continue to
Even though you're gone
You'll never really leave
Your work will be here
Your heart will be here
Your love will be here
You won't be forgotten

You couldn't be.

I told you
I can't
I can't have those feelings
I can't get hurt
I can't think like that anymore
He changed me
Broke me
Stole my heart
Shattered my world
Now those feelings make me think of him
Always him
So I can't
You aren't him
You won't be
You can't be
No one can be

And that's why I can't.

The friend-zone
That's where I'm going to put you
We can talk
We can laugh
We can have good times

As long as you're there
I'm safe
I don't have to open up too much
I don't have let you know
I don't have to have feelings
I don't have to wonder
I don't have to plan

The friend-zone
You're safe there
And so am I

Dresses swishing
Heels clicking
Hair curling
Lips smiling
Eyes shining
Excitement growing
Cameras snapping
People clapping
Music pulsing
Feet dancing
Bodies swaying
Feelings changing
Tears falling
World ending
Heart.
Breaking.

Once, I heard a beautiful man crooning about a beautiful girl
Bruno Mars was singing about how perfect this woman was
And she didn't even know
He loved everything
Her laugh, her lips
Every bit of her
I thought, "Who wouldn't want to be sung something like that?"
To be loved like that has to be such a gift
So secure
Unlike anything I've ever known
It sounded like the perfect song until Mary talked about it

She said that it was just what a girl wanted to hear
Who wouldn't want to feel so loved that everything about them was perfect to someone else?
The answer: no one
Every person alive would like to experience someone loving them like that
It's what we would all like to hear

And that's the thing
It's what we WANT
Wants aren't always reality
But I'd never really thought about it until then

Mary made me cynical.
Her version of why the song was written completely changed my view on it
And men in general
I didn't believe anyone could really love like that
But then you came.
For a little while, you seemed like the kind of guy who could sing that song
And mean it
I thought you loved me like that

You changed my mind
You made me believe
Mary made me cynical and disbelieving

But you proved her point.

You are so strong.
Iron-willed
Determined
Not willing to quit


You are so strong.
Built like an ox
Tough as nails
Muscular
You can hold up the sky

You are so strong.
At times you didn't have to hold on very tightly
A simple brush of fingertips was enough
Any touch held me close

You are so strong.
It was hard at times
You had to hold tight
I would pull away
You would pull back
Your hands kept me there

You are so strong.
Which is how I know
I know that it was you
You held on during the most difficult of times
But then
Suddenly
You didn't want to
You stopped

You are so strong.
You can support the world
But not me
I needed you
I still do
You no longer hold up my world

You are so strong.
Your hands didn't slip
Nothing tore me from your grip
You
Let
Go.

I knew what I was doing
I knew how you would feel
I knew
I knew they were more than home movies
They are memories
Those little moments
When you were still a family
Not broken
Not split
Together
It made me sad to watch
To imagine how you must have felt
How happy you had been
It made me wonder
Are you happy with your families now?
But what made me the most sad
Was you
Seeing it hurt you
Seeing you remember
Seeing the tears spill out of your eyes
It hurt me as much as it hurt you
And hurting me is a hard thing to do.