True Love.

I am heartbroken.

A couple weeks ago I found myself telling Gracie that I was purely and utterly just heartbroken. At the age of 23, I wrote down this gut wrenching feeling. A feeling/ emotion I have never felt before. But with time I sat in it, reflecting on what it means and why this feeling is so powerful and moving. It is because there are so many memories that come with it. I couldn’t help but feel thankful.

Love. I love love. I am a hopeless romantic. I want my life and relationships to be exactly what you see in happy ending movies. And that is my standard. I want nothing less than butterflies, corny little dates, love notes, just sprinkles of love everywhere you can find it. And it doesn’t need to be a lover, it could be someone you utterly enjoy being around, a best friend, a mentor, etc. because we should be loving our people hard. Because what are the chances that we are alive at the same time on this Earth.

“Odds of being alive: The odds of being alive are 1 in 102,685,000. This is because it required all of your ancestors to survive and reproduce without interruption for 4 billion years, and for your parents to meet and reproduce to create your genes.” – Google

Now take that, and do something with it because not only are you just alive but we have the privilege of being alive at the same time of all of our loved ones.

But why am I heartbroken?

Because to every start there is an end and I hate endings.

I have the privilege to be shown what true love is on a daily basis. This example comes from my Grandma and Grandpa, my Gran and Papa. They both love me and my siblings more than anything in this world. They give me the feeling of unconditional love.

To give a little background, my Grandma and Grandpa met way back in the day as teenagers. My Papa likes to say, she was the first woman he ever laid eyes on and fell in love with her immediately. They come from a small town, Danville, KY. My Papa, was know as Darin’ D from Danville, because you could say he was a crazy man. And little miss Gran (Dixie), was this good girl, who never got into any trouble. Of course they ended up falling in love.

My Papa, would always have Gran home by her curfew and then go back out and do something stupid to get his ass whooped. But even being the crazy man he was, my great grandma (Gran’s mom) adored him, and he loved her. I believe she showed him unconditional love because of how well he treated my Gran. They ended up getting married in 1966 and ever since I have been born they have always been my two constants in my life. I firmly believe it is because we value and look for the same things in this life. We know what we want to care about with our little time on this Earth and I believe that is what makes us so close. I have so much to thank them for and I know I will never even come close to putting in words what they mean to me.

They are just meant to be together. But heartbroken to me means my Papa gets diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. To see the one relationship you look up to go through so much heartache and pain, it breaks you.

Now, Alzheimer’s is the weirdest disease I have been around so far in my life. My Papa may forget his favorite place to eat is Chipotle, but he will always remember falling in love with my Gran and every detail in between. It makes me feel good he still has those memories.

What kills me, is to see how heartbroken my Grandma is. When a disease is taking the one you love most at a pace that no one can stop. She is the most patient and loving person. She gives me strength to keep going day in and day out, to love hard, and to never give up on the people you love.

I have always been a writer, a little bit of a secret, and I am starting to wonder why I kept it a secret from people. I write to say how I am feeling, an experience I don’t want to forget, and what people mean to me, honestly so many reasons. It truly balances my life out. I began writing from a young age and that was just sending letters to my Great Grandma (Muh), when she passed I feel like I lost the love of writing because I loved writing to her.

I have learned over the years that writing and expressing myself just makes this life a little bit easier. I hope you can find what makes your life a little bit easier. I hope you find love and get the chance to feel heartbroken because it allows you to put in perspective what love really means to you.

Love to me means there is no end. It is unconditional. Please love hard. Be who you are meant to be and enhance the human experience. Being intentional is key.

With so much love,

Emi Sue

If you feel up to it, leave a comment. What does love mean to you? Have you been heartbroken?

11 responses to “True Love.”

  1. Mariangel Betancourt Avatar
    Mariangel Betancourt

    WOW EMI!! This was a beautiful read and I feel inspired. I went through one of the biggest heartbreaks I’ve experienced this year and even though I knew it would get better it was really hard to really believe and imagine that it would. I’m so happy I took care of myself and still tried to move on because I can say that I’m happy today. And it’s honestly because of the people in my life, people like you!!! I’ve only know you for a short time but I’m happy we’re friends and I can’t wait to read more of your blog. Keep writing and loving!!!

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    1. Mary! Thank you! Your words are so encouraging to me. Keep on moving because life stops for nothing and no one! Take it all in friend. So much love to you.

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  2. love this 🥹

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  3. So beautiful Emi. ❤️

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    1. I hope you are well Megan! Thank you so much.

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  4. #thoughtsbyemi so proud of you and always knew you were a writer :).

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    1. Thanks for supporting me!

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  5. I know the same feeling, having an un conditional love for someone other than your self and it being a grandparent, my Grandmother was that for me! I only knew her as the amazing woman she was before Alzheimer’s and dementia took her from us ❤️ so when I come across others who are truly in love. I do all that I can to learn what makes their love special. Seeing how different it is between people is beautiful and gives me amazing joy when I see it and as I give it too.

    Sorry for your loss, this was a beautiful read!

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    1. Thank you so much. It’s a horrible disease, I can’t even imagine being the person with it, but it is bad for everyone involved. We are lucky enough to have someone to love so much. I’m glad you resonated with this piece. Thank you for your love💌

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  6. Emi, 

    I am so thankful that your Grandmother Dixie sent me this blog of yours (actually she sent several, but this one I read first and was so powerful and meaningful to me, I’ll hold off on reading the others). I was a friend of your Grandfather David since early elementary school and through high school, and forever since then. I need not tell you what a special person he was. 

    Your “True Love” blog is simply wonderful and unforgettable. I remember when David and Dixie “got together” and though I didn’t get to see them often, “I heard stories” about their lifelong devotion to each other and when talking to David on the phone, he would always have stories of his adventures with his grandkids. Over the past 10-15 years I think I got to be with David, usually for relatively short visits, mostly in Danville, but also two memorable times at Doug and Linda’s house during Doug’s medical tribulations. David and Dixie came over both times, one before his BIG back surgery, and the other just days before Doug’s death. Both times, David and Doug were both fully “themselves” and we had a grand time. Sammy Burke and I drove up from Danville together each time. Stories were told, some of them even true, and there was, as was expected with both David and Doug a lot of laughter. 

    This writing of yours was all about the power of love – what it can, and does, do for building strong supportive relationships, and what it can cause during a illness for which there is no cure. But love – love can carry us through those depths – it won’t keep away the sorrow and the pain of loss – it is the price we pay for love. And that same love can overcome the painful sorrow and lead us back, however slowly, to gratitude for the life of our loved ones. 

    I can imagine David with his famous “s*#t-eating grin” telling us from the other side – “What a great life I had, with Dixie the love of my life, with the love of my son and granddaughters, the gift of my “big brother” Tommy, and all the fun we had together. A man could not hope to have any more than I experienced. Grieve a bit for me, but only for a while, and then allow gratefulness for what we had spring anew.”

    I hope to meet you and your sisters “down the road.” I’ve talked with your Dad and look forward to meeting him as well.

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    1. John,

      Thank you for your kind words. I have heard about you for awhile in the stories my grandpa would tell me. He sure was crazy, but he was the best. My grandma and grandpa have always been such a true testament to love and what true partnership looks like.

      I hope you are well. And yes, at some point we will have to find time to meet.

      Thank you again for your kind words and support!

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