Today’s writing prompt asks the question:

Loved and lost, or never loved at all? Which might you prefer?

When first reading the question, it’s really difficult to decide, as I can understand both points. On one hand, having the chance to love, even for only a short period of time, may seem better than to never being able to feel that. Even if it’s just for a few months or years, love can bring you to the happiest place in your life. It can change you for the better, and make you see yourself in a completely different light. Being in love is a feeling that is difficult to beat.

With that being said, loving and losing can be traumatic. Love can make you do some crazy things, and losing that love can turn you into a completely different person. It can make you miserable to have someone fall out of love with you. Even worse, losing that person due to death can be downright devastating. Thinking of this is hitting close to home right now, as a close online friend made the choice of trying to end her own life shortly after her husband walked out on her. Sometimes, it almost seems it would be easier to never experience love rather than loving and then having it taken away from you in the blink of an eye.

After writing and re-reading my own post, I believe I’d have to go with “loved and lost.” When I was writing this, I was thinking of my papa. He passed away from lung cancer on April 10, 2006, which could easily still be the saddest day of my life.  He was my favorite person in the world, and I was his. To lose someone that close to you…words cannot describe the pain. However, I was able to spend 22 years with him…which is worth the emptiness I feel from losing him. Remembering the good times makes it easier to cope with the pain.