There was a time when everything about this city made me hurt.  There was a time when all that it did was open up old wounds.  There was a time when I couldn’t even live here without it ripping me apart.

I could remember walking around the city as though it was filled with land mines; breathing deeply and hoping not to get blown up at every turn.

Love does that sometimes.

And when the love ends…we sometimes forget that it once included happiness…joy…and laughter.  We sometimes forget that it wasn’t always painful.

Back when I was hurting, it never really occurred to me that the pain would pass…or that the very same thing I was looking at; a restaurant…a fountain…a spot overlooking the water, meant something completely different to someone else.  It never really occurred to me that my pain was just that…mine.  And while I roamed the road of my own hurt and healing…someone else saw this same life very differently.

The pain – like all pain – did eventually stop.  I could look and live in the city I loved once again while still feeling whole and human.  I’ll be forever grateful that time heals all wounds.  And as I began to immerse myself in old territory again, I began to recognize what I first loved about it.  The romance…the ambiance…the charm.  I began to see the love that I once felt.  Obviously, not with the same person…but with the memories that once happened there.

Chantal and Charles will never be on that end of my spectrum.  They will never look at the waterfall where they got engaged and feel the pain of a love that once was.  It will just never happen.  And if seeing them together doesn’t tell you that…knowing them will.  Instead, they will go back time and time again, to be reminded of all that happened there; the joy…the tears…the commitment.  They will go back and be reminded of the decision they made to spend their lives together.

They will go back and be reminded that this is their spot.  And no matter what someone else remembers or feels in its presence…it will always be the spot where two wonderful people decided on a wonderful future together…