Funny how things can change in a heartbeat, isn't it? Because suddenly Ryan was there and all I wanted was to be with him all the time. He was intoxicating, addictive. In those early weeks, being with him was more alluring than anything else I could have imagined; you could have offered me a flight to the moon and I wouldn't have gone if it had meant being apart from him.

I know some people are dubious of someone experiencing a volte-face like this. But I bet they just haven't been there yet themselves. They haven't felt that overriding thrill of meeting the person that they want to spend every minute of every hour of every day with. Someone who understands you more in a few short weeks than the people who have known you your whole life.

But I was always burdened by the feeling that this kind of sudden, intense relationship wasn't meant to happen to a girl like me. I just didn't believe it.

Now? Now I would give anything to feel that way again. That's why the best advice I can give anyone is to not be afraid to give love your all. Even if you end up hurt or bruised, it is, as Tennyson acutely observed, and I duly realized albeit too late, 'Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.'

Just Can't Be Away From You Kiss

"it wasn't meant to happen to a girl like me...

...I just didn't believe it"