Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.

~Louis De Bernieres

“I don’t know how or why but I do know that you changed my life. I met you and I’ve ever been the same since. I don’t know if it’s for better or worse or just for nothing but I know that you changed me, you really did. You taught me how to live my life, I mean really live. You showed me that I don’t have to be afraid of what other people think of me. You taught me to laugh, laugh at everything and to always smile no matter how hard it is. You told me to never give up dreaming and I never have. Somewhere between all the hugs and the laughs and the smiles, I fell in love. I know times have changed and I get it, I really get it but I just want you to know that I do and will always love you.”