Our relationship is filled with unfathomable highs and heartbreaking lows. Just sitting down to write this not only brings a smile to my face, but tears to my eyes. Stretching 35 years, this union has taken the best that circumstances and life in general can dish out, yet we still stand together in love with each other and for each other.
We were in junior high school band together, me one year her senior. For reasons unknown, she bore the brunt of teasing and taunting from my friends…..and me. The following year was another summer band camp and I remember going to the school early that first morning. Standing outside the band room door, I could see Diana inside with her head in her hands and she was crying. That’s when I knew I never wanted her to cry again. I walked in and sat down next to her in silence. We became a couple that summer, and throughout high school. From the giddiness of that first feeling, the first time I defended her honor in front of my friends, our first touch, our first kiss….we were our first loves.
We parted ways after high school and it literally broke my heart. I knew she was the one for me, but I was a child playing an adult game. After 35 years, we’ve found each other again and have learned that we are our first and last loves. That’s when you know you’re in deep, when love doesn’t ask for anything in return. When it comes back to you when the odds are against it. Cherish every moment together. Love is a word that’s so misused, abused, overused. I only know that with every song I send to her, every email I send her, she’s in my every thought, my every smile, my every breath. There’s a plan for everyone and while for now she’s in Florida and I’m in Durham, I have faith that our paths of life will criss cross into each other because true love is everlasting. Greg and Diana Holman Durham
