Six Months to Love

To the Optimist,

I was twenty-four and living in the most beautiful city I had ever seen. I would go to bookstores and libraries and daydream about my next step. Would I do my Master’s? How about a PHD? I had always wanted to go to Med School so I would hang out in the Health and Medicine section at the Vancouver Public Library downtown and wonder if I would meet other future doctors in the aisles. I was looking for more in myself and felt I needed to grow emotionally and spiritually, so I began reading books on Buddhism and instantly connected with it. While exercising my body daily through running and hot yoga, and exercising my mind every evening reading and meditating. Something clicked, and as cliché as it sounds a lightbulb went off for me. I had found myself and I wasn’t the person I had always pretended to be. I was not an unempathetic, defensive person who didn’t need anyone, quite the contrary. That year, I found my inner peace and learned to be kind to myself, to practice compassion and empathy, and live in the moment. I was the best version of myself, humbly accepting myself, and that’s when I met him.

Another six short months felt like the longest, best in my life. My heart was full and I had someone to share my new life with. When he said “I love you,” I sighed a deep breath that I felt like I had been holding in my whole life. I had known I loved him too, and I knew I wanted to love him forever. How opposite we were; he was relaxed, finding his career, surrounded by family and friends, while I was a bundle of energy, finding too many ways to fill my time, and had friends and family far away. He was my dream guy and best kept secret, and I was his. We grew together through adventures and laughter, supporting and pushing each other to achieve our individual goals. His smile is one I will never forget, and his hugs are the best I have ever felt.

we found a good size apartment in an old building in the West End. We had each other and we had Monty, our Money Tree who we affectionately treated like a pet. Who would have thought, the independent go-getter had been domesticated and loved every minute of it. I reveled on our clean walls and balcony views overlooking English Bay. As the record player spun playing timeless jazz or classic rock we fell in love over and over again. I wanted my family and friends to know him, to love him too, and to see what we had began to build together. We didn’t have to talk about anything, we both just knew. I had finally felt a true inner peace without struggle; I knew I wanted this life, with him, here, and nothing else.

Love from Vancouver
Lauren Gavrailoff, T.W.O.