Selamat Jalan, Love

It was just a handshake.

Just a few seconds of touch. Yet everything we couldn’t say lived in that moment. Passion, longing, care, restraint — all poured out through our hands. We both knew we wanted more — had wanted more for months — but that handshake was all that could happen.

Compared to everything we longed for, it was nothing. And yet, in another sense, it was everything. Words left unsaid no longer needed to be spoken. That brief touch said it all. It was the perfect ending.

He was the man who never smiled — until one day, he did. And then, every time after that, just for me.

I’ve fallen for others before, the way hopeless romantics do. But this time, I loved — truly, unconditionally. And that realization, though full of sorrow, was beautiful.

I never imagined I could fall for someone like him — or that he could fall for me. Love arrived anyway — unreasonable, undeniable.

We weren’t compatible in any obvious way. We both knew there was no future. Still, the ocean of love between us couldn’t be contained.

The day finally came — the one I’d dreaded — when I had to board a plane that would take me thousands of miles away from him. It was heartbreaking. I cried on that flight, and for many more quiet nights that followed.

Over time, the tears stopped. The ache softened. That’s not the end of love — just a transformation needed in time. It became something quieter, gentle. It lifted me up, making everything feel light.

And eventually, I fell in love again — with someone new, with even more to give. Because the love he gave me never left.

Before I took that flight — on that fateful evening — we stood there, shaking hands, searching for the right words. He wanted to say so much, but the words kept slipping away. In the end, all he said was, “Selamat jalan” — which means “Have a happy journey” in Indonesian, his mother tongue.

He wasn’t just wishing me a safe flight. He was blessing the road ahead — one not just of distance, but of life. Because he meant those words with his whole heart, my journey had been a good one, and it continues to be.

I wish him the same. Something I couldn’t say back then, I say now — with every bit of love I still carry: Selamat jalan, love.

—

This post was previously published on medium.com.

***