The Heart and Its Scars

 There's the first love. This usually happens in high school, freshman year, when hormones are raging and you think the most popular guy/girl in school is the person of your dreams. You spend a couple months together, and you think you're in love, until the excitement of new romance fades and there's nothing more between you. You find your next love within a week, but in the back of your heart, you know the first is always the most special.

 There's the kind of love that comes and goes in an instant. Maybe, for one night, you meet your soul mate at the far end of the bar. You have a couple laughs, you down a couple drinks, and you go across the street to the motel for one night where you are The One to someone. When you wake up, you leave them without so much as a note.

  There's the first real love. The one that causes your heart to melt, the sound of their voice has the same effect as your favourite song, and you never think the feeling will end. Until it does. The pain is almost unbearable, the stinging and burning that rises and falls like waves inside your stomach seems to never fade. You wake up every day thinking they're still there, only to cry a little bit when you realize that you're alone. But, as time goes on, your heart stitches itself back up and you slowly heal. This scar is bigger, and cuts deeper than the rest, just to remind you of what had passed.

  Then, there's the last real love. It's content, it's comfortable, and there is history. The passion fades over time, but the flutter when you see their sleeping face next to you still springs to life in the morning. There's routine, and you know everything there is to know. You have the feeling of their fingers interlocked with yours memorized, and their voice is still your favourite sound. Maybe you still dance whenever your song comes on the radio, and their smile still makes your world a better place. This kind of love makes all the rest obsolete.

  The scars are very real, and some never fade. Sometimes, they still sting when you think of the old memories, but the purpose of the heart is not to forget, but to remind you that there has been worse, but now you have reached the best part of your life.