-2024-
The year was 1960 we had to be about 17
There you sat, with the brightest smile on your face, I could see the tears streaming down your face as your laugh bellowed out of you. I had never seen a girl hit the ground so hard and laugh it off the way you had. I was surprised. Normally, people would be embarrassed about slipping, but not you, you overflowed with confidence. I never had never seen you before then, if I had then I must have been blind.
By the time I was released from the gravity that was you, you were already up and walking with your friends, but I knew I needed to meet you, because that was the day I knew I loved you.

Now that I had seen you, I couldn’t get enough. Your laugh must have been a spell because I had become entranced and now It was the only thing I longed to hear. I wanted it to be me that made you laugh like nothing else in the world mattered. The depths I would go to just to get you to look in my direction, if it took the impossible then I would do the impossible.

I remember waiting by that locker everyday for you to pass hoping I’d get a chance to see the green eyes that squinted with life when you smiled. You had not passed since Valentines day, I counted down each day until I saw you. My eyes could never miss you, you were too bright, your hair in the sun reminded me of the peach carnations I used to help my mother plant in the summers. That day you passed by again do you remember?

That’s when I stopped you to give you a flower

I wanted to give you something that was just a pretty as you are

And there it is, the smile that reminds me just how amazing you are

I couldn’t wait to give you one everyday and walk beside you, and I did, my life flashed before my eyes and I knew who you were. You became not just my best friend but truly my other half. You, your brain, your hope, your smile it was all perfection that could never be competed against. You were so much more than I deserved. So, I was content to just walk with you that day, and everyday after, we indeed did experience life together, we danced into our marriage, we stormed through fights, we laughed through illness, and we’ll walk through death together.

So please wait for me with a smile, Addie, so I can say once again that today is the day I knew I loved you.