All I want is a love like she and Grandpa had. How is that ever gonna happen if everyone sees me this way?”“The ones who truly know you don’t, Em.” Ryanne says, making her way back to the door. “The right guy’s gonna memorize you like a favorite song. He’s gonna play it over and over again in his mind until it’s the only song he can sing. Don’t even worry about the ones who can’t match your beat.

More than anything?” I lay back on my bed, closing my eyes. “I want a love like Grandma Adeline and Grandpa Amos had. I want to build a family from love. I want my future kids to have as strong of a relationship with their siblings as I have with Rider and Auden. I don’t want them to ever have to wonder if their parents love each other, because it’ll be obvious. I want future generations to look up to my future husband and me as much as I’ve looked up to my grandparents.

Allow God to write your love story. Allow Him to protect you from snakes disguised as princes. Wait until He reveals the gentleman you deserve. Never settle for anything less

My heart has weathered through these past feelings for Sawyer Alston like a beaten, bloodied soldier, and now the true battle stands: he needs a friend. Can I be that for him? Can I will myself to be only that for him?

He once told me not to cry over him, that he wasn’t worth it. That he wasn’t worth being cared about by anyone else. That he was replaceable. Discardable. Trash.That’s what the world decided he was, but the world never knew Sawyer Alston quite like I did. Despite my love of a lifetime allotting me only ten months’ time, despite Sawyer taking to heart all the wrong things in life, he only ended up being wrong about one thing.He was worth it to me.

My memories of Grandma are already fading, and I fear these changes will scrub Grandpa’s lasting impression from the house. Yet, as I hold this box in my hand, the one he specifically set aside for me, I relish that I’ll always have this tangible history to remind me of the greatest force on earth: love.

He was just looking for acceptance. A better offer came along, and he hit the ground running. I can’t allow my hopes to work up again, to tarnish my dream for a love like my grandparents’ by pathetically pining after someone who not only is too blind to recognize true affection, but who has never believed in love at all.That’s one glaring difference between Grandma’s and my quests: Grandpa’s faith in love never wavered. And I deserve more than an unsure heart.

My hand flies across the first blank page, chicken-scratched lines I can barely decipher wielding the dark tale of my heart. At 5:15 a.m., the pen falls from my grasp and I tuck the notebook away.I wrote my first love song, with his name in a heart to prove it. I wrote my first love song for the boy who knows no love at all.

And now the best couple I’ve ever known... they’re reunited. They’re together again, celebrating with Jesus. They’re both looking down on us, waiting for us to join them in the eternal joy Heaven offers.But right now, I’m here. I’m stuck navigating the dark and treacherous road that is life, now without the two greatest role models I’ve ever had. A sob escapes my throat, my palms failing to soak the spilling tears.