Epilogue
Dear Lucy:
You might want to know that, after a few unforgettable days walking every inch of beautiful Vienna (that is, when we made it out of our room), I’m now in a train headed to who knows where. We still haven’t decided where we’re getting off.
It’s late, and Will’s across from me, asleep.
If I reach out my hand, I can touch his cheek. And that makes me feel lucky. All I can think about is how you brought us together through that game and how he knew that he’d find me on a certain day in front of a certain painting.
I don’t know where our lives will take us.
I don’t know if I’ll get into college next year, if he’ll decide to go back to practicing law, if we’ll work some job or other or maybe try to take out student loans.
I don’t know if we’ll try to share a place in San Francisco or if we’ll have to be long distance for a while.
I don’t know if we’ll grow old together or end up taking separate roads, but I do know that in this moment, he is my favorite person and I want to live every moment with him, intensely.
I learned a lot this year thanks to you and your crazy ideas.
You made me realize that looking is different from seeing, that hearing is different from listening, that laughing isn’t the same as being happy, and loss isn’t the same as forgetting. Being rash isn’t the same thing as being brave, and existing isn’t the same thing as being.
I realized I’m the result of everything that’s happened to me, what I’ve won and lost, what I’ve lived and I haven’t lived.
And that means I can’t know what I’ll be tomorrow or the next day or a year in the future.
But I have a feeling that whatever I do, I’m going to do it with passion.
I’ve decided that if I have to cry, I’ll cry my damn eyes out.
If I laugh, I’ll do it till my stomach hurts.
If I love, I’ll bet it all and put my whole heart on the table.
We are time. Bone, flesh, and time. The rest is just props we use in this play called life. So I’m going to enjoy every moment of it. For both you and me. And if I’m ever lucky enough to see you again, I’ll tell you everything, just as you asked. I promise.
Lucy, I love you forever and beyond.
Yours,
Greta