To my best friend who I fall in love with every single day; more & more

I didn't think it was even possible. No special occasion. I am smitten.

& so is he. how special it is to be cared for.

You make me laugh so hard the house shakes. I loosen up.

My insides come undone. One by one. Peeling underneath my skin, scarred & scared. All this unraveling from giggling empty stomach? Or from keeping eye contact for five seconds too long, & now my feet are soft. I can't take another step away from you, so I do what I do best, fall into you, lean into the hearty laugh, ease off the self-induced stress, tumble topsy-turvy into your helium hair, your breathtaking beard.

Being with you turns the volume down on noise. My stress dissipates into a soft sigh, the kind that escapes after the first sip of a really dirty home-made bloody mary.

I’m ready for whatever cards the day is about to deal me.

Your laughter unwinds me. Starts somewhere deep in the chest and rises, like bubbles in champagne, bursting with joy. It’s infectious, irresistible. When you laugh, the sun breaks free from clouds. Casts a golden hue on everything. I can’t help but join in. Finger snaps. Tight knots of worry dissolve.

So many metaphors for lovers
I'd choose finding an old
familiar sweater
in the back of the closet;
coming home to you
after a long day at work.

If you know me (& I know you do), you know I’m a tough sticky cookie when I’m mad. But you work the ropes and I feel an unwilling giggle break free from my mouth. You make my scowl homeless in seconds milliseconds.

I let my guard down, knowing you’re there, unflinching, unwavering. You look at me & smile. No explanations. No comments. Only your gentle gaze flipping the pages of my personality, reading parts no one else bothers to see, and loving them all. You make me feel seen like I’m the most intriguing book you’ve ever read - blah blah so cheesy and cliched ew but what’s true is true (though you haven’t read a book in a long long time haha!)

When I talk, you’re there, completely, without distraction. I understand the depth of your love, the rarity of it.

That’s a gift you give me, over and over again.

my peace, my joy, my love

What/who makes your stress melt away?

---

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