Forgetting Kelly Grace

We were never official. She always said that labels complicated things and she didn’t want to belong to anybody. One time I brought up marriage - not because I wanted to marry her, because, at the time, I didn’t. I was just curious on what she had to say. Kelly’s perspective on things was so different from anybody else I knew, and I loved hearing her opinions about everything, even the littlest things.

She looked at me funny. “Marriage isn’t something I would ever consider. If I ever loved a boy enough to get married to him, he’d have to be extremely extraordinary.”

After that, I aspired to be the boy to change Kelly’s mind. I wanted Kelly to love me like she’s never loved a boy before. I wanted her to be the person she couldn’t imagine living life without. I know it would be difficult because she doesn’t love anybody easily - that’s what she told me. She said she couldn’t stand her family, so she packed up and left without regrets. She didn’t even love the woman who gave birth to her.

We never brought up marriage again.