"How do you still smile," they ask,
"when everything is falling apart?"
He laughs.
"It could always be worse."
The younger version of me
would have been terrified to say those words.
Afraid of tomorrow.
Afraid of loss.
Afraid that every closed door
was the end of the story.
Age taught me something quieter.
The universe gives.
The universe takes.
Neither asks permission.
Some battles were never mine to win.
Some people were never mine to keep.
Some dreams needed time
before they learned my name.
Once I accepted that,
the fog began to lift.
I learned to love without chains.
To laugh without guilt.
To cry without shame.
To stop treating life like a finish line.
Life was never a race.
He takes another step toward wherever today is leading him.
His phone vibrates in his pocket.
He smiles before unlocking it.
Her photograph.
He turns the screen toward them.
"This woman..."
"I knew she was worth everything the first day we met."
Not because she was perfect.
Because something inside me recognized her
before my mind could explain why.
The universe never let me forget.
Even through silence.
Even through distance.
Even through every season that tried to convince me otherwise.
She made me laugh.
She made me cry.
She reminded me that the strongest hearts
are not the loudest.
They're the ones willing to wait.
He slips the phone back into his pocket.
"If there's one thing I've learned..."
He looks toward the horizon, where the road keeps unfolding.
"Slow down."
"We spend so much of our lives chasing tomorrow
that we forget today is happening."
"You cannot force love.
You cannot rush healing.
You cannot negotiate with time."
"If it's meant to be..."
He smiles, softer now.
"...it's meant to be."
"And there isn't a damn thing you can do about it."
So breathe.
Love deeply.
Laugh often.
Forgive freely.
And when life decides to rewrite your plans,
don't curse the pen.
Some of the most beautiful chapters
begin exactly where we thought the story had ended.
