This is the day to celebrate the love of your life. Your friend. Your lover. Your soul mate. Your best friend. True love is the hardest thing to find, but it is the greatest gift of all. To know that there is someone who cares for you makes life worth living. You wake up thinking of them. You are excited at the thought of them texting or calling and you think about them every minute of the day. You feel that warm incredible feeling when you think about them, your heart bursting with joy. To have someone to share your life, the good and the bad, knowing that they will always be there for you, fills your soul with pride and you can face any challenge, no matter how great. Your life may not be perfect, but simply knowing that someone holds your heart in their hand and loves you deeply and passionately makes everything okay. Any self doubts you have as a person – are you good looking enough? are you a good person? are you worthy? These are all answered just by knowing that this one person believes in you and cares deeply for you. They listen when you are troubled. They instinctively know when you need a hug. They know the right things to say to you because their thoughts come from a genuine and loving place. They make your world a better place and you cannot imagine living your life without them. They share your dreams for the future, knowing that they will be right there beside you to pick you up if you fall.

Give it all you’ve got; but, if it ends, however it ends, accept that it will be tragic. Your heart will be broken in a million pieces. You will lose the will to go on. Your soul will be empty and nothing in your life will matter. You cannot fill the huge void they have left. You will question every single thing about you. You will beat yourself up, asking what you did wrong? You will cry a lot. You will get angry if you feel you didn’t deserve this. You will experience incredible emotion. One minute you will mourn the loss of the person who meant more to you than anything, and you will find yourself sobbing uncontrollably. The next you will be filled with anger, questioning everything you did for that person out of love, wondering if they were just using you, and why? Then , if it’s true love, you will realize just how deeply you love them and how much you miss them. You want to be friends, but how could a friend hurt you this bad? You struggle with knowing they don’t love you as you believed, yet you want and need them in your life. This is so much worse if they have betrayed you with someone else. That is a dagger in your back and a pain that cannot be described in words. The trust is gone. The respect is gone. Everything you held dear has been shattered. You struggle to go on or to ever trust someone with your heart again.

If you are lucky enough to be in love with someone, don’t hold anything back. Show them you care in every way possible. Love means being able to be yourself. Say what’s on your mind without fear of saying the wrong thing. Be honest, always. Show each other the real you, with all your faults. If you have a true and undying love, there will always be forgiveness. Hold each other tight. Be affectionate. Be passionate. Don’t be afraid to cry. Respect each other beyond everything and everyone else. Never speak harshly to each other, because you can’t take the words back. Though you risk getting hurt, there is nothing to be gained by putting up any walls to protect yourself. Love totally and unconditionally. Give yourself completely. Your heart is sometimes smarter than your brain. Love is an emotion deep in your soul. Trust it, no matter what. “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” is so very true. No conquest. No accomplishment. No happy moment is anything without having someone special to share it with.

It’s said that, of the more than six billion people on the planet, there are only two perfect loves for each of us. The odds are against you, so, if you are lucky enough, as I was, to find that incredible person, your perfect match; the person you can’t live without, embrace them and give it everything you’ve got. You will discover the greatest love of all and you will understand what love is really all about. It is wondrous. It is beyond spectacular. It touches your very soul in ways you could not imagine until you find your true love.

Rejoice in every single moment you are together, even if it’s just the silent moments, when there is no pressure to say anything because you are that comfortable together. Laugh often. Have fun. Do everything together. Make love with all the passion you have in your heart. Let the one you love know that you would give your life for them.

Although today I am a broken man because I have lost the love of my life, I take some comfort in knowing that I at least found one of those two people in the world, albeit for too brief a time. I know how deep my love for her is, because I can’t stop loving her even though I know I should. This Valentine’s Day was going to be roses and poetry and showing her how amazing she is and how I could not love her more. That is not to be now and I am devastated, but I will always be thankful for the great times we shared. She made me whole again. She made me feel special. She made me feel loved. There are no greater gifts anyone could give. I thank God for bringing her into my life and if He decides to take me I will go in peace, knowing that I have had the greatest love of all.