My Pain is finally gone. As I sit in the darkness I feel no guilt or shame. I loved her with all my heart. Those who read this will hopefully understand just how much I love my dear, sweet Claire.

            The summer after I wrote my first novel was when I met her. I was stepping off the train in New York on my way to a meeting with my publishers about the progress of my newest work. As I ran to catch a cab I ran into the woman. I quickly picked up my papers and began to apologize when my voice caught in my throat. I always thought that the expression, “she took my breath away”, was just a stupid saying writers put in there sappy romance novels until I laid my eyes upon her. As she walked away I thought I would never meet another woman as gorgeous as her.

            Two years later I had moved down to New York for good so that I could be closer to my publishers. I took up playing guitar and singing in the local clubs for fun and a little extra spending money. On my sixth gig I met her. She had silky blonde hair down to her shoulders and eyes of the deepest blue. We dated for a year when I8 finally asked her to marry me.

            We moved out of the city an into the country side. We’d spend hours out on the bench beside her favorite tree that we planted together when we first moved in. She told me her heart would always with mine under this tree. But it wasn’t meant to be.

            Over the years she became distant. She was always trying to find excuses to get away. So at night I would sit alone under our tree with tears falling on the strings of my guitar. She told me she was out with friends but I knew better. My heart would always belong to her but she gave her heart to someone else.

            When they found me a week later they asked me why I did what I did and I just smiled. As I sit writing my last words I think back to what she said so many years ago under the tree. If my heart is with hers then our hearts will always remain together under that tree where no one can steal her heart away from me again.