If we could go back in time, there are a lot of things we would do differently. There are some things we would say, and some that we wouldn’t. If we could go back in time, we would take the next step in spite of our fatigue, because we know what we’ve been searching for lies just around the corner.

If I could go back in time, I would have told you that I don’t care what you’ve done in the past. I would have hugged you tightly and never let you go, because there was nothing you could ever say that would change the way I thought about you. I would have said everything that was on my mind and not faltered in my words, lest you miss their true meaning and think I no longer cared for you. I would have listened to you. I would have shown you that I loved you.

But you aren’t here anymore. You blew away like the wind the moment you heard something you didn’t understand. And I wish I could say that I harbor no feelings against you, but I can’t. It breaks my heart to say this, but it’s true. I don’t know why you ran away from me, but I do know that I didn’t run away from you. I feel betrayed, broken, abandoned, and lost. What am I to do if I am to be without you?

If this is to be the last thing I say to you, I want to be perfectly clear, candid, and concise. There is one phrase which fulfills all three of these categories. It’s a phrase which in one fell swoop has shattered nations, and brought them together. It can bring peace and war. But I’m not looking to do any of these things. There is only one purpose for my words, one reason that I must say them, and it is this: I love you.