Just Once

1994

It was the time of my life.
We were in love, or what I thought was love, for a very....a very brief time. It felt real enough, nonetheless. I didn't know what happiness was until he came along and showed me. I guess it sounds ridiculous, huh? Cliché, actually, might be the right word. Still, I loved him. How do you not fall in love with someone who walks into your life and hokey-pokeys the shit out of it? He took me places I'd never been and held my hand the entire way.
I worked as a bartender at a little-known dive in LA. I had bigger dreams than bartending for sure. I wanted to see the world, write some songs, fall in love. None of it seemed tangible before he showed up. With him beside me, everything just felt right. That is, until is ended. I found out the hard way that everything comes to an end sooner or later; The only thing that lasts forever is nothing.
When it was over, I continued traveling and tried my very hardest not to look back. I abandoned LA for London and wrote some songs for a few British artists. Then I went on to Sydney and worked there a bit. Then Berlin. Then Tokyo. Then Vancouver.
Even now, I find myself thinking about it every so often. All the places we went, all the fun we had. But, wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Maybe I should start with the first day.