I was digging into my laptop bag yesterday looking for something when I came across the polaroid.

I've looked at it a hundred.. no a thousand times.. but it still has the same impact. I can still feel the breeze on my face.. the smell of the ocean.. the sand in my feet. It holds memories that are so dear to me.. almost five years old but fresh in my mind.

Its a stolen moment. We had gone to the coffee shop by the beach with a bunch of friends but soon found ourselves alone at the beach. Walking hand in hand we strolled along the water, the waves kissing our feet. I could feel the soft warmth of the sun on my face as I looked up into his eyes. We sat down on the sand and I put my head on his shoulder.. listening to him talk.. a smile in his voice. It was a beautiful day.. the sun was almost setting as we sat there looking at the clouds.. watching the sky change colours along with the soothing sound of the waves. When the sun was just about to set, we walked back to the water and thats when the polaroid guy came up to us. We tried to get rid of him.. why would we want to have a polaroid taken? But it was a beautiful day and we just didn't want to say no. So we had the polaroid taken.

All these years later, its the only 'real' picture of ours that I have. All those digital images keep getting lost or deleted or just vanish away.. but the polaroid stays with me. Always. To me its the perfect image of my love. Its yellowing and the colours are fading a bit but it holds the happiness of my past and the dreams of my future.

We have been through so much, me and this polaroid. I have held it to sleep on particularly difficult nights. Sometimes I wept with it. But most often I have looked at it and smiled and felt the warmth of the sun that day and of my love. Once when we were fighting a couple of years ago, I tore it down the center. It wouldn't tear easy so I made a lot of effort to do it. How I regret doing that! But now I don't even notice the tear. The two peices never were apart anyway. I have always kept them together, carefully.

It is the most personal part of me.. a peice of my heart.