Even after all this time? Always.

There are these memories inside my head. When I examine them I realize something strange about them. They aren't mine. They come from a life that I'm not leading, a life that was lost to me. Memories of a life I could have led but can't lead now. They come and go, they taunt me when I need them to leave me be. What can be done with them? I can't black them out with a permanent marker since the don't exist on paper. They aren't recorded on film and can't be cut or burned away. Without a foundation in existence they shouldn't be able to plague me like they do and yet...

I see a young face, not unlike my own, with a tinge of her. Her eyes, my hair, her smile, my nose. The contours shift from real to surreal as the image blurs. This person doesn't exist yet she haunts my memories. Playing and wrestling with her older brother. Sun in her eyes, wind in her hair. A tooth missing here and there. A smile as large as the love I have for her and her mother.

These aren't memories, you'd say. They are fantasies, fabrications, dreams, wishes, that won't come true. And to that I say, no. They are memories of a life I failed to lead. The version of me living right now was insufficient to acquire that life. My faults overshadow the faults of the other players in the scenario. The links were broken and all that remain are the memories.

The memories and a desire to come clean. To voice the blame which is held tightly to my chest. I want the weight of my failures to be lifted. There needs to be one last connection to let them know, to let her know, the guilt I feel. The guilt tied to those memories and the way things failed to be. How if I was a better version of myself, a healthier version, a stronger version, then the memories wouldn't be from somewhere else. They'd be tied to reality. To the waking hours, to the long nights, to the mornings, afternoons, and evenings shared with them.

No longer alone. With the ones I loved so dearly but was too weak for them. Not a day goes by that I don't lament my weakness. My inability to pull myself up and dust myself off and fight for that which I loved. But weaknesses are sometimes too difficult to overcome. Sometimes it seems best to push those away before the self-destruction destroys them as well. To save them from the pain of longevity. To save them from an all encompassing failure. To save them from a history repeating itself.

I've lost what I've loved most. Two things, equal in importance. The strong willed, confident, happy, proud, kind, empathetic, patient, love filled self that got lost in the darkness. And the one who loved me for all my faults, the one who loved me for who I was despite my failures. The who held me like I've never been held. The one who showed me there was hope for a future. The one who brightened my life with her smile, her eyes, her world. The one who was afraid things would repeat themselves from her own past. I never wished to replicate that in us. I failed in that and I'm sorry.

If I could rewind time, and be strong enough to weather the darkness, I'd have sought help. Got myself back to good, and sought to remedy our woes. Perhaps that time has passed us forever, perhaps it hasn't. I don't want to hold out if that life I have memories of is indeed gone with no possibility.

For now though my fears are still too strong. My life hangs on a thin string. I'm still seeking health and solace in myself before I try to fix what I broke with us. I can't have you repair me though I wish you could. I can't burden you with these woes, that are a lifetime in the making. I won't be selfish. I can't be selfish. You don't deserve that. When your own struggles are so heavy. Adding my own is unfair.

Things might change or they might wither away. I can't say. I'd rather not think on that now. I'll simply let the memories play on and hope for a day when they become real or die away.

I will always love you
There's no one else above you