another dream

Original date 11 May 2012

In saying "goodbye," I'm not closing a door on the first half of my life...and definitely not on Brian.

I am choosing to look forward to what may, or may not, lie ahead. I could no more forget Brian than I can kill myself by holding my breath. It's physically impossible.

I can choose to look towards the future without wishing that I had the past. We all wish we had who we had. I think that if we hold on too tightly to that wish, it blurs our ability to see the future.

The timing of this, like every single other aspect of grief, is unique. I could not have done this 2 years ago. I could not have done it 3 months ago.

I will never forget Brian, but will carry him with me wherever I go and with whomever I'm with.

He's a part of my heart, you see. And as long as my heart beats, he's here...moving forward with me, not causing me to stop and stare only at what I can't have...my past with him.

Ok...so about the dream...

It was around midnight.

I'd been at a hotel for almost an entire week. I had on a great dress. I knew I'd be dancing like crazy...and I did dance...which is totaly weird because I have two left feet.

There was a table in the middle of the dance floor. I knew that each person there would receive a glass heart, with some paper on which to write a note, and some ribbon with which to tie said note on the heart.

Then the hearts would be thrown into the ocean around midnight.

I wasn't interested. I didn't even take a heart. I didn't give this more than a nano second's thought. Actually,

I thought I'd be in bed sound asleep when this jaunt out to the ocean happened.  I danced with various people and I danced with Todd.  He danced with various people. We had fun in the picture booth.

Those hearts on that oddly placed table kept attracting my attention for some reason. I tried to ignore them.

I was not interested.

But at the last minute, I grabbed one. I took it with me and sat it down at my spot at the table. And then I went off to dance some more.

Then, before I all knew it, a five minute warning was given before the march to the beach would begin. So I went back to the table.

And I stared at that heart.

The heart I had no intention of using. I had nothing to say, after all. It's been almost 2 years. I've said all I can think of. Besides, I don't really think that Brian can hear me.

So I sat down and stared at the heart. And then I slowly unwrapped it, wondering why I was even giving it that much attention. Before I knew it, I had reached into my bag and brought out a pen. Still wondering what the heck I was doing, I began to write. I didn't write a lot...I didn't have to. All I wrote was this: "Brian, I will love you forever. Kimmy"

See? Nothing poetic. Nothing worthy of the prose. Just a simple note. And still, I had no intention of doing anything with it. But I wrapped the note onto the heart anyway. And then I got up and started for the ocean.

And then suddenly, Todd had to rush upstairs and left me on the dance floor.

So I hustled out of the doors and across the patios and onto the bridge that led to the beach. I still had no intention of doing anything with the wrapped up heart that I held in my hand.

I was a sight to see...barefoot and formal, picking my way through the sand to head up to the pounding surf.

I looked behind me to see if Todd had returned yet. He had not. I hung back for a few more minutes, watching others march right into the surf and hurl their hearts out into the Atlantic.

And then, before I realized what I was doing, I was walking into the surf. I'm not sure how I got there... I don't remember making the decision to go...I just found myself there.

The water was cold as it surged up over my ankles and up my calves. But I only seemed to notice it for a moment. And then I stopped and I talked. To Brian. It didn't occur to me at that moment that I didn't believe he could hear me. I just pictured him, standing there, facing me in the surf.

I didn't plan on seeing him. I didn't plan on talking to him. None of this was planned.

But then I told him what I'd been learning to say for two years. I told him that I love him, and that I will always love him, but that it was time to say "Goodbye."

I thanked him for everything he was to me. I told him that I still look forward to seeing him in Heaven, when it's my time to get there. But for now, he's part of the "before Kimberly." And I needed to say "Goodbye" so that I could turn around and face the future.

Without him.
Not the future I had planned...ever.
And not the goodbye I had thought about...ever.

But I've had two years to get used to the idea that he is not coming back. No matter how much I love him.

And with that "goodbye" I tossed my heart into the Atlantic.

My glass heart.

My real heart stayed in my chest...against all odds. I half expected to bury it in that ocean along with the glass heart.

But my heart, my very real, very alive, beating heart, stayed inside of my body. Where it should be.

And I turned around and started walking out of the surf. I had tears in my eyes, and my head was bowed, but I was not sobbing. I felt more surprised than anything.

Surprised that I was able to actually say "goodbye" to what was past without having a huge meltdown. Surprised that I felt so at peace.

After I walked out of the water and up on the beach for a bit, I finally looked up. And I saw Todd coming out to meet me. And I thought of the irony...and of the meaning of this night...to me, anyway.

I had just said "Goodbye" to the most important person in my life...to my very first and very, very true love, and turned away from where I left that heart, only to see this man in front of me.

The man who is in my present and who is in my future.

I couldn't help but smile at that thought. And I knew, without a doubt, that that was what Brian would want for me.

That that is how it should be.

His death is my reality, no matter how much I hate it, or how much I want to wake up and find it didn't happen. It did happen and that is my reality.

And there's a man who stands before me. He loves me. He's crazy about me. As I am for him. He is my now, and my future.

And he doesn't deserve me constantly looking over my shoulder for what was. For what can never be again.

Yes, that hurts. But it also feels like I've been given my freedom to live...to move forward. And Brian is the one who gave that to me as I tossed my heart into that ocean.

Something I never thought I'd do. Something I didn't plan to do. Something I had no interest in doing.

And yet...I did.

Brian will always be a part of my heart. That's a fact of my life. But I needed to say "Goodbye."