Карина Каржавина

When The Person You Once Shared So Much Of Your Life With Becomes A Total Stranger

It’s difficult to recover when the person you once shared so much of your life with is now a total stranger.

It makes you wonder if anything lasts. It makes you terrified to reveal your heart to anyone. You can’t help but question when they’ll leave or when you’ll start to drift apart. 

It’s horrifying to know that someone who once knew your quirks, habits, annoyances, and just how you like your coffee in the morning is now a distant thought. 

It’s horrifying to know that the person who once knew your body, every curve, mole, and tender spot, can forget it all, that they’ll learn the body map of another.

It leaves you asking, What happened? You can’t seem to pinpoint the moment where everything went wrong. The truth is, sometimes we try to force a forever life with temporary people. 

All you know for sure is that you’re not the same. Yet you’re the very person you were all along.

Maybe the most disturbing aspect is that sometimes, drifting apart will happen as we grow. We’re both expanding into ourselves at different rates. We’re so caught up in the details of life that we forget to acknowledge each other, to see that we’re both changing. This is when we break apart.

Slowly you start to forget the big things, like what a person looks like or how you became friends or lovers. Yet you remember everything—small moments like the smell of their hair, their smile, or the way they looked into your eyes.

Here lies the beauty of the heart. We think our heart is all out of love, but our loving is never completely gone.

We have many more lives to live, with countless memories to create. You question if it’s worth it, but what’s the alternative? Not living fully? No. Instead, you learn to take the risk with enjoyment. You learn to let people be who they are.

You lean in. You listen carefully. You listen to what’s not being said. You check in with each other. You voice your wants. You express your needs. You decide to accept each other, work through the storm, or let go.

It’s horrifying to know that the person you once shared so much of your life with is now a total stranger. Yet here you are living, despite feeling every raw emotion. And though you might not see it now, you get to experience a brand new life.