Letter to Juliet

Juliet's balcony, Verona, Italie. May 2011

Somewhere in Europe is a piece of paper with these words written on it. 

Dear whoever you are,

I write to you in the hopes that the myths I've heard are true; that these old stones, as cold as they may seem on dreary days, have some magic and hold a promise of eternal love to those who write to them.

Some say that love is but a word, and I should agree. Love is just a word... until it happens to you. There is nothing more powerful in the mortal world that has the supremacy to change an individual. From the day I saw his shining smile, looked into his endlessly deep eyes and heard that bubbling laugh, there was no turning back. I has started to fall in love with Nick. He says he owes me everything, but I can’t help but feel that it’s the other way around. He’s pulled me out of the small pool that used to be my reality and made me see the oceans of possibilities that lay just beyond, he’s shown me what true happiness is and he’s taught me how to love without fear. And for that, I owe him so much more then I can possibly give. Though some might say that I am young and naive, they cannot see what I see, cannot feel what I feel. A quick glimpse of his figure leaves my heart racing, his smell intoxicates my senses and can send my mind reeling into a thousand unfinished thoughts; a tender gaze into the depths of his cold eyes makes my muscles melt and just a gentle touch from his warm fingertips can take my breath away. Every moment I spend with him swells my heart and it seems as though the world throws a bubble around us, where every star shines twice as bright streaking across the midnight sky. Our lips lock and the clocks stop as people seem to stop and stare as we carry on without a care.

His eyes are only one of his features that never cease to amaze me. When I take the time to look at them, they remind me of a warm summer day as I curl up into the twisted branches of an old willow tree.  The tints of green remind me of tall grasses, each blade moving with the next, making a single unit, turning into waves crashing through the fields. Forgive me for the cliché but the brilliant blues of those eyes; they take me to the sky, cloudless and blue, stretching on for miles and miles into an unending abyss. Putting it all together, they take me back to one of my favourite memories; a moment of blissful peace standing on the high dunes of Prince Edward Island. Early in the morning as the sun rose, I stood against the dawning gusts of fresh air, the high grass and cattails bending to the wind on one side, and to my other, an endless horizon of rainbowed sky with blue seas decorated my world. In that moment, I stood alone; however, when I look deeply into the doors to his soul, I've never felt more elated and he seems to be staring back at me with an unexplainable awe filling his features.  In the smallest of details, one can find an unthinkable amount of beauty that most seem to miss. All of these; petty comparisons to the real feelings that the gestures create, and there is no true way for me to explain them. I could write a novel of details about him that travel through my mind daily. But there is only so much paper in the world.

“If all else perished, and he remains, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained and he were annihilated, the universe would turn into a mighty stranger; I should not seem a part of it.” –Emily Bronte. Although I've heard these words many times before, I've only recently understood their true meaning. There is no real way for me to express the extent of which I feel for him. He is my prince charming and my idiot in tin foil wrapped into one. He is not perfect, but that exactly what I love about him, those little imperfections that make him who he is. I love him because, he is simply, himself. I and surely many others have a notion of something beyond us, a true meaning to our true beings. Nick is as much part of me and I am of him. Without each other, we are not complete, and I would see the world in grays rather than the vast vibrant jewels it truly is. If I can’t hear his heartbeat, he is too far away and my heart yearns for his presence. Our deranged love grows every day and all that I truly ask is for his life to become all that he wants it to, that his worries stay small and that he never needs to carry more than he can hold. My only wish is for him to be happy, no matter where that leaves me.

Sincerely yours,

Sophie Fortier

Last year, I went to Verona, Italy. I had just begun to fall for my boyfriend and could not resist the urge to write a letter to Juliet. It may be floating in the wind, or it may still be hidden in the many cracks of the old bricks from the broken wall. Either way, I want to thank whoever it is who made my wishes come true. The stars have aligned, he has made my world more amazing than it ever could be. I cannot fathom my life without him. I love you honey.