The Notebook

I love this book! Here are just a few passages from the book that I especially like:

"The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we've lived a thousand lives before this one and in each of them we've found each other. And maybe each time, we've been forced apart for the same reasons. That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come...Your soul and mine must always come together. And then, for a reason neither of us understands, we've been forced to say goodbye. I would love to tell you that everything will work out for us, and I promise to do all I can to make sure it does. But if we never meet again and this is truly goodbye, I know we will see each other again in another life. We will find each other again, and maybe the stars will have changed, and we will not only love each other in that time, but for all the times we've had before." (pp 121-122)

"It is a barren disease, as emply and lifeless as a desert. It is a thief of hearts and souls and memories." (p 167)

"We had a wonderful life together, and I think about it a lot now...You have taught me...and inspired me...You will never know how much it has meant to me...Though there have been times when I was frazzled...you were always there with kind words, encouraging me...

You are my best friend as well as my lover, and I do not know which side of you I enjoy the most. I treasure each side, just as I have treasured our life together. You have something inside you...something beautiful and strong. Kindness, that's what I see when I look at you now, that's what everyone sees. Kindness. You are the most forgiving and peaceful man I know. God is with you, He must be, for you are the closest thing to an angel that I've ever met...

We have lived a lifetime most couples never know, and yet, when I look at you, I am frightened by the knowledge that all this will be ending soon. For we both know my prognosis and what it will mean to us. I see your tears and I worry about you than I do about me, because I fear the pain I know you will go through. There are no words to express my sorrow for this, I am at a loss for words.

So I love you deeply, so incredibly much, that I will find a way to come back to you despite my disease, I promise you that...When I am lost and lonely, read this story...and know that in some way, I will realize it's about us. And perhaps, jsut perhaps, we will find a way to be together again.

Please don't be angry with me on days I do not remember you, and we both know they will come. Know that I love you, that I always will, and that no matter what happens, know I have led the greates life possible. My life with you...

Wherever you are and whenever this is, I love you. I love you now as I write this, and I love you now as you read this. And I am so sorry if I am not able to tell you. I love you deeply. You are, and always have been, my dream." (pp 204-207)