We Planned Forever — But Forever Wasn’t Ours

We thought we had all the time we could want, we had time — lots of time; we took phone calls in the late hours, stargazed, and stretched it all out into the future.

We chose one possibility out of all of our dreams, and tried to make each “someday” moment as real as we could possibly make it, since it felt like we were writing a story combined.

But life had other ideas and I’m left with mere shades of memories and our thoughts on a future I’ll never get to witness.

What we had was not love, it was everything; sometimes, and it’s true, no matter how great the UNbreakable bond is, life gets in the way.

This is a story of love, loss, and realization, that not every “forever” is meant for ever after.

The Blueprint We Built Together

We weren’t just in love; we were in planning mode.

We talked about wedding dates, city skylines we’d live under, and the names of future babies that seemed poetic.

Every point in the future had “us” in it. We were the constants in a crazy world. But maybe that was the error — thinking that love was enough to put it all together in a package.

This was an emotional foundation, not a rational one.

Love isn’t enough to build a house. Life doesn’t invest in romantic promises. Life requires engagement, timing, and waking up after bad dreams.

It hurts to settle for less than you thought was possible, and even in a plan that had every detail accounted for, the foundation wasn’t stable.

When Life Doesn’t Wait for Love

During the time of planning for our forever, life certainly did not stop moving.

Careers pulled us in opposite directions, there were family expectations to achieve, and life was not going to stop for our thoughts and feelings. We were bound by deadlines that we did not want to miss, people we did not want to disappoint, and decisions we wanted to and had to make for ourselves.

Gradually, the calls lessened. The “I miss you” texts likewise lost their immediacy.

There had not been any less love — in fact the love was still there, buried beneath the weight of responsibility.

We thought we could hit pause on the world while we got everything under control and return when we found calm. We wish we could, but we likely cannot.

Life continued on.

And in an effort to preserve each other’s dreams, we also lost the one we had created together.

The Quiet Goodbye

No big blowup, no final explosion.

Just silence.

The silence that seeps in slow until it is the only thing left.

We kept waiting for some signal, some reason to hold on tighter.

But eventually we realized we were holding on to a memory — not a present.

Letting go was not wild and crazy.

We were heartbroken, of course — but we were peaceful.

Two people who loved each other deeply, but just could not choose each other anymore, in a world that kept pulling us apart.

Some love stories don’t end with betrayal.

They end in silence, in mutual understanding, and quiet tears.

Loving Someone Who’s No Longer Yours

The hardest part isn’t that I miss you; it’s the fact that you’re still out there, you just just aren’t mine anymore.

I see things that remind me of you, and as I do I wonder if you look at something and think of me too.

Do certain songs still sting?

When you smell a perfume that I used to wear, do you stop?

Loving someone who isn’t yours anymore is not something you can “just move on from.” It becomes a piece of your soul.

You don’t unlove someone: you learn to live without them, and in many cases, that is the bravest lesson love could teach.

Final Thought

I used to think real love was forever but now I get that sometimes, real love means knowing when to let go.

It’s not a failure just a different kind of ending. One that doesn’t come with hatred, but quiet respect for what it was.

We had planned a life together; even though we didn’t get to live it, I still appreciate the parts we did.

If you have let go of someone you still love; you need to know: you are not weak. You are human.

Nobody said you would love less if it didn’t end in a relationship. It is always worth loving deeply even if it’s all for nothing.