For S.C. - 10

I was initially going to write this on Friday - which was the 10-year anniversary of Susan's passing.  She was my first long-term/serious relationship and I am still pained by the fact that she was taken too early.  I don't think I have much I can say that won't sound like forced and over-dramatic emotions for the sake of writing.  But I will say this much:

We were together for seven and a half years.  We were young - I was 21; she was 18, when we met.  In many ways, we grew up together and then apart.  We had many wonderful times and some not-so-great moments, especially in the last half-year of our relationship.

We never spoke again, after our final phone conversation - ironically, it was on Valentine's Day, 1994.  It was a very long, sad and sweet exchange.  And even though we never did talk to one another again, after all those years, she was always going to remain a part of me.

39 years after we met and now 10 years since she's gone, she is still a part of me.  She always will be.