Love isn't something that you can learn from a book or off the internet. Everyone defines their own love, their own idea. Everyone falls into their love story in a different way, whether it's a happy ending or not. Unfortunately, I didn't have a happy ending but I wouldn't say I was unlucky in the least. "It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." My love story wasn't picture perfect either, but it was my story. It made me feel something that I never thought I could feel with anyone, something I never believed was real. I never understood what it was like to cry over someone or be so insanely happy with someone as I was with Mike. The good memories always over power the bad. I will never forget the moment when he stopped kissing me and looked me straight in the eye and told me he loved me, the days when I would be waiting at the mailbox for a letter from Iraq, the way it felt to touch him after not seeing him for almost a year. I will never forget any of it. And all the nights spent crying over him I wouldn’t take back. I would rather hurt than feel nothing at all, because love is truly a blessing. It really can’t be defined by just one sentence in a book. I am so thankful that you created this website Channing. I’m going to try and post as much as I can, not only through words, but my art as well. It's been a few years and as much as I have let go, a small part of me is always going to hold onto what Mike and I had, and that small part I can reveal on here. I’ll admit I’m scared to be alone but I have hope. I know it will happen for me again it’s just a matter of time. This was a lesson, just life running its course. The distance, the heartache, the love was all worth it...because in the end I know I will have my happy ending. "The best thing about loving and being hurt is that you get to know what true love really is. For as gold is tested in fire, and so will love be perfected in pain."