The girl from the photo...

“If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” – The Zahir

I was once in love with a beautiful girl. Back then, I truly believed she would be part of my future.

It was during high school — those chaotic years when I was lost, rebellious, and life at home was... toxic, to say the least. I didn’t want to be there. I’d skip school, hang out with older kids, smoke weed, get into fights. All these self-destructive behaviors felt normal at the time. I wasn’t a follower, but I also hated being alone.

Home felt like a war zone. Living under the same roof with someone who hated my existence carved a deep void inside me — a creeping emptiness I couldn't shake.

Then, she appeared.

A kind soul. Someone who showed up exactly when I needed saving. And she did save me. Without her, I genuinely don’t know if I’d still be here.

But the truth is — we were just kids. Neither of us knew how to handle the weight of love, or what it meant to truly commit. Still, she changed my life — in ways both good and bad. Her presence pulled me out of darkness, and her absence plunged me deeper into it.

Our breakup shattered me.

Looking back now, it’s wild how time reshapes your perspective. I see the choices I made and feel a strange mix of sorrow and disbelief. I spent years waiting. Sitting in the past. Clinging to a photo from the past that would never arrive in the future.

She had moved on. I hadn’t.

She was building her future while I stayed behind, holding onto memories and rain-soaked hope. I couldn’t let go. She had rescued me from my pain, and so I made her the anchor of my soul. But in doing that, I stayed adrift — unable to move, unable to grow.

My future became my past. And for years, I lived like this.

That inability to move forward followed me for a long time.

It sabotaged relationships, poisoned trust, and filled me with anger I didn’t understand. I hurt others before they had the chance to hurt me. All because I was a broken soul.

But I’m not that person anymore.

The old me? He’s gone. I had to tear him down, piece by piece, and build someone stronger in his place. Reinvention wasn’t a luxury — it was survival.

Here’s what I know now:

Change is necessary. Growth is vital.

If you keep living the same story, you'll never make space for a new one. You have to let go of the past to make room for the future.

And I get it — letting go feels impossible. But it’s not about forgetting. It’s about honoring your worth enough to keep moving.

Because the only person who will be with you for your entire life... is you.

Everyone else — your partner, your parents, your children — they will all have beautiful and sad moments with you. But when the time comes for you to continue on, you will have to make that journey alone.

So cherish them while you can. Love fiercely. Love deeply. Because one day, it will all become memory.

And now I understand — if I hadn’t met her, I wouldn’t be the man my wife needed. I wouldn’t be the father my children deserve.

That pain shaped me. It refined me. It broke me, then built me into someone new.

So live.
Live fully.
Not just for yourself- but for those who went ahead.