Last Kiss author's note: A dedication
This series is dedicated to friends Howard, Ralph, Carolyn, Ken, Dan, Harold, Sharon, Josephine, John, Marianne, Elisa, Rick, Bob, Sandi, Kathleen, Gordon, Mary Ann, Linda, Liz, cousin Rich and to all who mourn the loss of a significant other. Sending you love, wishing you comfort.
It is offered with warm gratitude to Diana, Janice, Patricia, Dennis, Susan, Ted, Maureen and the countless others who shared their most intimate grief, and especially to Patty and her family. We have felt an obligation to each of you to present your stories with care, sensitivity and affection. May your accounts be of help to others.
This project has been a devotion not only to all of them, but ultimately, to all spouses; in my case, to the woman I call Esperanza. As it is with all couples, our love story is likely destined one day to end with sadness. As it is with most, we know this in our heads but do not appreciate it in our hearts.
Esperanza, if I should go before you, live without regrets. Time is so precious; I would not want you to waste it in tears. And if, God forbid, you should go before me, I would want to cherish the memory of you without the memories disabling me in heartache. Is there a way to prepare ourselves? This is not so simple, but it is this project's aim, its hope.
Perhaps, for all of us, that preparation starts with today: remembering to treasure each kiss as if it could be the last.
- John Lampinen
April 15, 2018