"Someone asked me how long it took to write this song. After careful reflection — two lifetimes, intertwined. The lifetime of Monik, and my own."
"Love like Monik and I shared is very rare. Most never find it or have a crossing the ocean fairy tale theme. But here is the hard side of finding it — be prepared to pay a price. A heavy price. And either you or your love will pay it. That is in death and separation. It is so wonderful to have, but equally as devastating to lose. And we ALL die."
"I am glad Monik went first. Only because I know it would have killed her to lose me. Days I should not have survived. But did. Not certain how I made it through those few days or why. But I am here."
"It was not a decision. It was a destiny to fulfill."
"She was stunning, inside and out, and she chose me. I am still and forever will be slack jawed."
"My sole reason for living was to make her smile."
"The days will pass. Do you want them to pass without her or with her."
"I don't know that I deserved it. But I know I gave it."
"Our only real addiction was each other. Always wanting more than we could get."
"The problem with climbing to the top of the mountain is that there is a long way to fall. She was the peak of my life."
"Promises made. Promises kept."
"I am finding purpose in this work for her memory."
Waiting for love, waiting to see,
waiting for you, like you were waiting for me.
With our arms wide open, with our hearts open wide,
with an ocean between us, with our souls intertwined.
True love's never over,
it's not measured in time.
Our hearts beat together,
when your hand's in mine.
Climb any mountain, fly over the ocean, and swim cross the sea.
I found you there waiting — Waiting for me.
So just like a movie, on the big screen called life.
As the whole world was watching, as we laughed till we cried.
They said we're hopeless romantics,
they said our love's fantasy.
But the whole world kept watching,
'cause true love's so rare to see.
Waiting for you, waiting for me.
Climb any mountain, fly over the ocean, and swim cross the sea.
True love was waiting,
My angel was waiting,
Monik was waiting —
waiting for me.
"It reads like both a love letter and a living memorial. Love can ripple outward, touching strangers who witness it."
"Merci pour votre grand cœur. Mon amie était si heureuse grâce à vous."
Thank you for your great heart. My friend was so happy because of you.
"I hope she sees from where she is today just how loved she was."
"Cherche le bonheur encore."
Seek happiness again.
"I can only hope that someday someone will love me and adore me like you do your Monik."
"If no one has tears in their eyes after listening to this... Keep playing and singing — she can hear you."
"Made me feel that love I once found. I miss my love awful."
"Damn, Kevin! That's fantastic."
"One day closer. I think that every day."
"I bought Coeur Mining while sitting with Monik in France — on the name alone. Because Coeur is French for heart."
He paid for this song with the profits. Not a single penny came from anywhere else. A stock bought for love paid for love's memorial. Even that stock paid dividends — as Monik always did.
The most ordinary beginning to the most extraordinary story. A YouTube comment. November 14th, 2014.
Two completely different worlds that had no business colliding. And then they did.
Learning French for her. Failing it in high school. The moment a language became an act of love. Cacahuète and all. God makes jokes on us all.
The love was not made real by this declaration — it was already real. Unstoppable. The post didn't create the love. It let the world in on it.
Donc. Une chose à la fois. Peanut butter sandwiches for a year — to be certain he had hotel, champagne, taxi, and restaurant money. Coincidentally, peanut butter in French is cacahuète — which Kevin was fairly certain translated to "wet shit" — caca for shit, and wet! God makes jokes on us all. So "wet shit sandwiches" — I will do that for her. None of it was easy. None of it mattered. No price too high. Nothing was going to stop him.
180 days a year. Every day the law would allow. The airport. The weight of leaving. The counting of days.
A love that was never private — it was always a gift to anyone watching. "True love's so rare to see."
After their first Skype — he ran in circles around his house like a child. She was real. Two people who had every reason to be guarded — and with each other they were just free.
Skin against skin. Something that will never happen again. Its own quiet chapter. So special. So rare.
COVID. The phone. The screen. Just not enough. Never enough. And Monik beginning to get sick.
Just his voice and his guitar. Her watching and listening. That recording played on repeat at her funeral. Asked to play live that day. Could not.
Monik asked him to tell their story. He promised. This chapter is about what it cost to keep that promise. While his heart was breaking. Still broken.
"Thank you for being the sunshine in my mother's life." A kiss on each cheek. Kevin stuck in that moment months later — driving home alone.
Be prepared to pay a price. A heavy price. Days I should not have survived. But did. Not certain how. But I am here.
"The days will pass. Do you want them to pass without her or with her?" The regret. The wisdom paid for in full.
A Nashville guitarist. A Louvre painter's widow. An ocean. A YouTube comment. How does any of it make sense? It doesn't. Except that it does.
"The first time, I crossed an ocean to be with her. The next time I will cross over into the next life. And there I will find her — waiting. Waiting for me."
"In one of our very last conversations, Monik asked me to tell our story. I promised I would. And this song is me keeping that promise."