There are people who create our everyday aches.

From the cashier who snarled

at the political dehumanizer on Fox News,

to the side street “sexualizer,”

and the unnecessarily competitive coworker.

But those who relieve our aches,

who make our eyes wet from the sound of their bellyaching laughter,

who listen intently even when our story goes on for 15 minutes too long,

who stop us in the middle of it

to ask for more details,

who challenge us only when they know our eyes are ready to see more surface area,

who make us an extra cup of tea without asking,

whose container is wide and warm,

whose laugh makes us laugh harder,

whose presence makes us feel as good as we do alone,

who can float with us in the sun,

and howl, and cry with us beneath the moon—

sink as deep as the craters within it.

And are stable and with us.

No reminders,

no everyday phone calls or texts,

because we’re of the same world

and speak the same language in it.

It’s as etched in our cells as the carvings in the pyramids,

a mystery that we both know to be truth.

You.

This letter is for you.

For being there the way you have

on the afternoons that I called “mornings,” filled with tears of regret

and way too many bagels.

For your hand squeeze that taught precision to time itself.

For the phone calls we both know are mindless,

but are as meaningful as the company we provide.

My heart grows four sizes

when I think of how grateful I am

for the too-sweetened tea you pour me

by your perfectly sweetened soul.

This letter is for you

to know just how much sweeter

life is with you

as my partner in time.

Thank you for getting “it,”

without any words at all.

~

Image: Pixabay
Editor: Leah Sugerman
Copy Editor: Nicole Cameron
Social Editor: Yoli Ramazzina