Somewhere between winter and fall,

I realized I loved you.

I had said the words countless times,

like a mantra,

or a great idea that couldn’t fail.

But it did.

When I realized it was love,

I found myself laughing.

I, the strong one, the one who wouldn’t break,

was dying of the sick irony that I love you,

and you didn’t love me.

Between winter and spring,

I got out of that rut.

Of wanting you,

Needing you.

Missing you.

I thawed out from winters cold indifference,

and sprang to life in the spring,

accepting that it was love,

that I could love,

that I did,

and that the idea of love created that bond,

an attachment of sorts if you think of it that way.

Between winter and spring.

I stopped needing you.

Between now and eternity,

I can never stop loving you.

I can’t thank you enough for what you taught me.

I always felt love made me weak,

but it made me strong, I was able to pick myself off the ground.

You helped mold me,

you painted a piece of the woman that will be me.

Between winter and spring,

I thought I was going crazy,

Now as I move to spring, and summer,

the ideas and notions of love no longer scare me or make me feel weak.

Between winter and spring,

you made me strong.