“I do not for a second regret that my heart was able to know someone so extraordinary. I treasure our memories deeply. I marvel and admire the person that you are and always will. I feel honored and privileged to have been desired by the caliber of man that you are. I’m not naive enough to believe that those cherished memories will suffice as you became a part of me and took a piece of me with you when you left. Fate had other plans for us. Whether I am meant to be a part of it or not, I am simply grateful for your existence. Your happiness always was, is now, and forever will be my happiness.”
One of my favorite authors is Nicholas Sparks. His most recent work, “Every Breath” was a novel in which I swear the man stole words from my heart to write. I cried throughout the entire novel as it reminded me so much of myself and the journey I walked with someone once upon a time ago. The inspiration for the novel was the Kindred Spirit mailbox which thousands have made the journey to Bird Island, North Carolina to pen a letter to for over 38 years now. After reading the novel, it is a journey I’ve now included on my personal bucket list. It’s estimated that over 100,000 people have visited the mailbox and undoubtedly, after Sparks’ novel, will receive thousands more. Kindred Spirit houses the hopes and dreams, grief and losses, and thoughts of so many. But the message it holds above all the rest is: Love Endures.
As part of promotion for the novel, a digital mailbox – deareverybreath.com – was set up for people who desired to submit a 600-character letter of their own. The above was my submission. The mailbox closes on February 28 but if you desire, you can go to the site and read some truly heartfelt, inspiring and even heartbreaking letters. Even the letters that hinge on sadness reveal that there is always hope. Katie Quine said it best, “A blank page is an immeasurable gift in life.” That’s why I choose to write. It is my gift to myself – a gift of healing, of learning, a gift of opportunity to inspire and touch others, a gift that blesses me in more ways than I can enumerate.