They don’t come home after work, buy you gifts, give you a kiss, or cuddle at night.
They don’t tell you nice things, take you exotic places, to dinner, or hold your hand in the movie. They don’t say they love you, hug you, help when you need it or stand by your side in a crowd. They’re not much of a lover, poet, looker or dreamer and it’s been years since you were visible, but content alone on your own.
And while you’ve become accustomed to being without all these years, one day you may find yourself glancing up at a stranger for the first time who mustered the courage to say hello when you could not. And at that moment, your imagination of how it’s been better to be alone and unhurt suggests you just might have been mistaken too long.
You fumble a returned hello, an awkward smile, and feel the strange awakening of an ancient hope from where you left it so many years ago when it first said hello and last said a cruel goodbye. Just maybe you’ve been wrong about love all these years, because love always begins with hello.
Never say never, because you never know.