Meth, Love and Pimples

I Love her, but I’m not IN Love with her. Is there really a difference?

Here is a letter from a book I have called “Found”. People from all over the country have sent in letters, pictures, grocery lists, and just about everything else you can think of to this fellow, who puts out a magazine, and once a year or so, a book. The great thing about these letters, is they have no context. You have to sort of make up the back story for them to make any sense. Let’s give it a try. Here is a letter found in Florida.

I can’t see, hear or even touch you. No one has came and visited me or put any money on my books. I’ve been here since last Wednesday that has been eight days I’ve been in jail. Have anybody came and seen you? I hope somebody has. It can be lonely if you have nobody in your corner. Whenever I get out, but I know it will be before you I hope. I will come and get you on the 24^th with a fresh pair of shoes, a high life beer, a fat blunt and a pack of Newports. Being in here has made me want more out of life and in the game. So when I touch down on the streets no more playing with this shit. I’m going for the goal!!!!! Everything you and I want will be reality. Extra hours and overnights will be in affect. You probably would want to leave me but I don’t see it any other way baby! I want more for you and me. I see it in my dreams and feel it in my heart. Class is over I will write you tomorrow. I (heart) you baby with my mind, body and soul. Sweet Dreams and Goodnight. XXXX

You want to know what love is? Get caught with a little bit of Meth in your kids diaper on your way down to Disneyworld. Get you and your wife locked up for a while, and your kid taken down to The Grove, an orphanage where they teach young un’s how to pack fruit and never give them a second chance. Sit in jail and worry about how your wife is doing over at the women’s “correctional facility” after eight days of washing up with her roommate Ellie, who she won’t tell you about because “she doesn’t want to talk about it.” Think about that for a little bit, then tell me if you love her.

The fact is, most of us never really know about love until we’ve been without it for long enough. For many, relationships become “comfort zones for us…. a place where we can get by without demonstrating too much emotion, but still feel catered to enough to not be alone. Usually it ends up a one-sided struggle, often settling down to just plain ole’ indifference. Is there a difference between that and Love? Don’t you hope so? If you’re asking yourself a question like that, then it’s probably time to work on your relationship or move on to another one. Just be careful next time.