Forgive... but Forget??

Forgiveness is a tricky game. In each one's life, there comes a time when we ask for or are asked to forgive someone who has hurt us. It hurts most when that person is who we love the most. And sometimes, in the name of this love, we forgive. Or do we? Do we truly forgive and forget? Or does the hurt haunt us from time to time, having made a permanent crack in our armor?

I know someone who once made that in retrospect can be called a mistake. He did not willingly hurt anyone but at that moment, took decisions that hurt the woman he loved. When he realized his mistake, he asked her to forgive him. And she told him, she would if he chose to come back to her. She would forgive and forget. And she is the only person I know who truly forgot. In the many years hence, they have been through thick and thin. But never did she ever in a fit of rage or in a weak vengeful moment, throw it back in her face. They moved on to a healthier relationship, with far more trust and understanding than before.

I don't believe most of us are that magnanimous. I am probably not either. The ghosts of my past come back often to shake me up and remind me that nothing is permanent.

But wouldn't it be so much better for our own selves if we could let go? If I could let go? If we could move on... truly forgive and forget. The shackles that bind us, hold us back from loving with abandon again would break. And we could once more fly away to a place where skies are blue and love truly is forever! Or is there a place like that? I wonder!