The Book of Memories

by Jake
(Syracuse, NY)

It was at the end of high school and I had just broken up with my girlfriend, because we were going to different colleges on different sides of the country. It was both a sad and hopeful time, and I remember having very mixed emotions.

The day before I was supposed to leave, my ex-girlfriend surprised me with a photo album she had been working on for several years, and which included pictures of us, our friends, places we'd traveled to, and best of all, little notes she had written through the years on our time together.

It was the most most amazing gift I had ever received, and in fact, is still one of the few items I take with me on trips or journeys.

It means more than probably any gift ever will, and I'm forever grateful for the gesture. To this day, when I become nostalgic, I will open up the Book of Memories and relive wondrous, happy times.

But what is most amazing is what happened just a few months ago. My ex girlfriend had just died in a car accident. I hadn't seen her in a couple years, and now she was gone. Before the funeral I was looking through the book, and I noticed a piece of paper poking out from behind one of the photos.

Curious, I pulled it out. It was a letter, and it began with "if you ever find this." I won't reveal the rest, that's private, but I will say that I cried. It was one of the sweetest things I'd ever read.

And a part of me knows that she will live in me until I die, because of what we shared together, and that most romantic gift she gave that just keeps on giving.

I miss you, babe.

See this selection of personalized photo albums before you go.