It was time to start high school, I was a handsome boy of 16 years old, I lived with my grandparents who took care of me and educated me since I was 10 years old because my parents died in a traffic accident; it was a painful moment for me, 6 years have passed and I feel that every day I miss them more. Because of this I was very lonely, I preferred to be at home watching a movie, downloading games on the computer and sometimes study and do courses on the web, but deep down I knew I had to return to my normal life, it was easier said than done, but I was going to put a great effort of my to achieve a life like any other boy.

Close to my grandparents' house was high school, about 2 kilometers away, so it was easy for me to walk there and return. I really liked doing it because I had time to meditate and take some pictures. In my free time between classes I went to read a book under a tree, while everyone was probably talking about social networks, the boys trying to impress the girls and the teachers eating in the cafeteria. My favorite class was definitely the extra curricular, it was a course of photography and literature, it was a mixture of very interesting art to which I had a certain passion.

The first day of extracurricular classes I met my first couple, one of the main activities was to learn to trust people, and as I noticed how shy she was, a very extrovert girl approached me and asked me to be a class couple, which I stuttered to tell her I accepted; she was very beautiful, I think it is impossible for a boy like me not to feel any nerve. Sometimes we would walk together to his house while we talked about the things we liked or our classes, I really was like in another world, I could not stop seeing his smile and his eyes, he had lips that seemed to be very soft; Sometimes she called my name several times and when I woke up from the shocked she laughed at me a lot, until one day I wondered if I liked her, I don't know what happened to me at that moment but I said yes without thinking twice, I was a little embarrassed, even blushing.

My personality changed with time, I could have interaction with other people, I guess the extrovert girl who was my girlfriend, had infected me a little of her personality so genuine, wanted to be better for her, a good boy and a good boyfriend. Every weekend we went out to eat and to the movies; when we got engaged I knew that I was going to need a part-time job to be able to take her for a walk and give her good times with me, not that money mattered, but a girl likes to be taken care of and in a way that they spoil her, my girlfriend was no exception.

My camera was full of pictures of her, some of us were together. In the free time of classes we already went she read for me while I rested my head in her legs, many times I fell asleep, between the soft breeze and the sweetness of her voice it calmed me and projected peace, she only continued reading for me. I knew how much I loved books, which she eventually began to love as well; we made a promise that when we left the university where we were going to study together, we would buy a bookstore, I followed the game to her, although at that time it seemed to me something very exaggerated and not very possible, we were too young to dream so much.

We finished high school and went to the prom together, everyone said we were going to get married very soon because we had a lot of dating time, the truth is that we never had any kind of serious problems that made us think about separating, I suppose our love was true and pure, we loved each other so intensely that from the first day we met we didn't separate. We both studied literature in college, and the time I spend flying by, it was a delight for me to get to her house and have her parents treat me very well, as well as my grandparents treat her very well, I'm sure my parents would love to meet her sometime in the next life, because I love her so much that I want to continue loving her in our next lives.

When we graduated we were able to rent a small book store with the part-time job we both had, and soon after we were able to buy it. We were all happy with that great achievement, what I had thought impossible, was a reality, so my reality was to be with her forever; that same night when we opened the bookstore I proposed to her which she accepted, I was very happy. We got married in civil and church, she looked much more beautiful in a white suit, I felt like the luckiest man in the world. After a couple of weeks of being married we bought a house since we were living rented for the expenses of the book store, she and I wanted to have children but we were not given the miracle, we never thought to go to the doctor, we always believed that it was something normal so we kept trying while we enjoyed the success of our book store.

Her happiness could be felt hundreds of miles away each time a customer or new order arrived, she enjoyed what she was doing, she had created a small space for reading children in the same store, and she dedicated herself to reading stories to several children who came from the street with their mothers. I was only observing their happiness from afar while attending to the customers at that moment. Eventually we went to a doctor who told us we couldn't have children, my wife was infertile, she fell into depression for a while, I didn't know what to do, until I came up with the idea of buying her a dog, a beautiful golden retriever which we called Tom. Tom always lay next to her as if it were his son, while my wife stroked him, that bond became love and was what helped my wife regain courage. But in time a dark shadow overshadowed our lives.

My wife had cancer, and she was very advanced, she only had 6 months to live. I was heartbroken, I didn't want to lose the woman and companion of most of my life. Every day was a new one for me to be able to be by her side, she did everything possible to smile and not feel bad, as if she wanted to give me all her strength before she died someday. She wanted to live every second she could, so she made arrangements to buy a library to which I agreed, we sold the house and bought a small apartment where the three of us could live.

I only wanted to make her happy, we both knew that there was little time left, everything she wanted I wanted to give her in life and so I did the possible and impossible. At that time she was very close to Tom even though she yelled at him every time he made a disaster, but then you could see her eating with him in the living room. Sometimes the tears came out of my eyes, I knew that one day I would never see those moments of her life again.

3 months later I had to bring flowers and tears to her sepulchre, she was for me and for Tom the best life partner, she totally changed my life, I would like to remember her for her beautiful smile and humility as a person, for her passion as a wife and for her extroverted personality. The least I could do for her was to continue living and being grateful for all the time I was by her side, and surely I would do the impossible to continue attending what in the past united us, literature and her beloved dream, your beautiful bookstore by the name of Madeleine.