Baggage and all

There's a tendency for people to want a clean slate, a fresh start, when they end a relationship, especially a long-term one. I definitely went through a period of wanting that. I wanted to exorcise, to some extent, that part of my life. But now that the dust has settled, now that I have found that the heart bounces back and realized that not only is it great to be single and learn to enjoy your own company again, but it is also amazing to find new love and have butterflies in your stomach, I've come to accept that you can't - and shouldn't want to - erase history. Your history, your memories and experiences with someone...all of these things change you and become etched in who you are now.

It must cause some level of comfort to those very rare people that end up with their first loves to know that they are the only people who have and ever will occupy the hearts of their beloved. To not have to wonder if there are lingering feelings for an ex or whether he/she loves you more than he/she loved their ex. But for the rest of us who come with baggage - at the end of the day, it shouldn't really matter who or how many people someone has loved before you, just that you are the one he/she loves now. I am not interested in being someone's first love, but I do hope that I end up being someone's last (and enduring) love, baggage and all.