In 2009, I met someone special.
He came from Australia, and I was—well, perhaps it was love at first sight.
But I prefer to describe it differently: it was an intense, demanding kind of love.
A love that asked a lot of me, because it was so ambitious. I believed it was the love—the one you grow old with.

But life had other plans.

I suffered a great deal in that relationship, and yet today, I am grateful for it.
Because this person left me something precious.
It wasn’t romantic love that remained—not that longing, idealized closeness—but a quiet, deep gratitude.
Gratitude for the experience. For what I was able to learn through him.

He showed me how powerful honesty can be. That there’s no need to be afraid of being real.
That honesty takes courage—and that this is precisely what makes it so valuable.
I still carry that gift within me to this day.