"The future for me is already a thing of the past -You were my first love and you will be my last"

― Bob Dylan

I just can't describe this feeling. I can't distinguish it between love, happiness, peace, joy, or was it a combination of them all? Whatever it is, there is a hint of sadness and fear, but why?

I thought I made my peace, is this the grief we only experience with our own death? I wasn't young or old, I lived a great life with soo many blessings, even the ones presented to me in disguise left me feeling grateful. I have been reunited with many of my lost loved ones, but still, I'm not able to fill this void. I was told to tell my life story, or perhaps my love story. Wow, how grateful I am that my life is better explained as a love story. Supposedly, this will help me find total the total peace I now seek.

So, here comes my confessional, I am gifting it to you as my life story. Not the kind of life story you hear from some depressing sap given under the influence of a bottle. A raw, beautiful story about a happy, sometimes painful, fulfilling life of mistakes, passion, love, and many, many blessings.

My loved ones have gathered today to help me tell my story. It's like I can hear their thoughts through different stages of my life, their love story, only it's about me.

So, being that I am a very passionate descriptive person, please don't read my story if you are under the age of 18, or easily disturbed about life, loss, or sex.

My parents' story, yes, that's a great place to start!

I was born to Jake and Emily Sheridan in the Summer of 1976. I am a product of true love! I mean, a love that cannot be matched, a love story written for a novel, or maybe even by God himself. I believe the kids now days would refer to their relationship as, "goals".

My parents can't remember the day they met. I know that sounds strange, but they are childhood sweethearts. They were neighbors their entire life, and to top that off, their parents were best friends.

I was born on a very hot summer night in a small town in Indiana, a few hours north of Louisville, Kentucky. My birth was described as a miracle, because I was born fast and my mom's life hung in the balance. I was early and very tiny but strong.

My dad always said I was in a hurry to join the party. That's right, I was a wild child with a love for music and a passion for fun. That night must have been hell on my dad. As a witness to their love my entire life, I can truly say, Dad wouldn't have survived the loss of my mom.

My journey starts now as I hear it from my father first.

Jake Sheridan's POV

I could never forget hat bittersweet night in the Summer of 1976. I was scared out of my mind. My wife and child's lives hung in the balance, and I could do nothing, I was completely useless.

I have literally never lived a moment of my life without Emily. My first memories are of her, even though she was annoying when we were children, always wanting to tag along with me and my friends. So stubborn, competitive, tough, smart, and did I mention annoying?

Emily's parents and mine were best friends, to top it off, I was stuck with her all the time.  They would joke to everyone that we would be married someday. How embarrassing, I hated it when they would say those things to people.

Being that we both lived on farms, our parents helped each other out, a lot. Planting, harvesting, bailing, and they would even go to the livestock auctions together every Wednesday. Why me? Seriously, why me?

Emily wasn't raised to be your typical girl. Sure, she could cook and do household chores, but there was more to her than just being an annoying girl. She could keep up with any boy in the schoolyard, play basketball, baseball, and even football. I joined wrestling just because I knew she wouldn't join that sport. None of the boys ever gave her a hard time, let's face it, she scared the shit out of them. She was known to send boys home crying if they ever tried to pick on her for being a tom boy.

Side note: Don't ever call her that either, I learned the hard way. I had to do the walk of shame down the hallway of our school with a shiner no man could have left on me, and of course, the whole school knew she kicked my ass.

I still think she's the one that would move my truck in the middle of the night for a whole month just to make me think I was crazy. We were just kids but she demanded my attention.  Every morning, I'm sure she enjoyed watching me search for that damn truck. How the hell did she know how to hotwire? Unbelievable!

It seemed to happen so fast, all the sudden my friends started looking at Emily differently. She didn't tag along as much, and was spending more time with her horse, Skye. So, by that time I starting to miss that annoying little girl. What's wrong with me? I used to beg for her to get a life of her own. Anytime I heard my friends comment about her blooming curves, beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair, I could feel myself become tense, hell, I was angry.

No, no,no, no! This couldn't be happening, I couldn't be falling for my bratty little neighbor, It was a phase, right? I'll grow out of it, I lied to myself.

Yeah, right! There we were, young adults, married and waiting for the birth of our first child. The toughest, most stubborn, and most beautiful girl in the world was fighting for not only her life, but the life of our child. If anyone could do this, it's Emily. God knows, I could never live without her!

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