I Love You

November 17, 2007

Gale, I loved you when you looked at me with those big brown eyes, and when you smiled at me from across the room. I loved you because you knew me inside-out and loved me regardless of my flaws. I’m sorry I didn’t say “I love you” more when I felt like it… rather, I put “I love you Gale” with my trademark smiley face on your iMac. One thing I never want to forget is how we stuck together through everything. Even when life pulled us in different directions for a while, we still found our way back to each other—because what we had was real. I also never want to forget the fun we had when we were younger—the projects we shared like the art gallery, the laughter, and the way you made life feel like an adventure. I still see us coming back from Tom’s Farm with those huge Christmas trees tied to the roof of your Honda Accord, hauling them through the back roads at night, like we were on a mission together. We both loved big, full trees until they got too expensive and hard to handle, which is why I bought the 7.5-foot Balsam Hill tree in 2016.

East Hope, Idaho on Pend Oreille

I still see us painting the Jurassic Period mural together, which is when I gave you the nickname—A-pat-a-saurus Rex. I can’t imagine a more perfect soulmate than you, Brown Eyes. What I mean when I say I love you is agape love—the love that stays, that chooses you, that is grateful for you, and that doesn’t run away when life is hard. Thank you for believing in me when I couldn’t. If I could speak to you tonight, I’d say: I love you, Brown Eyes. I’m still yours. My Gypsy princess, I am trying—but scared most of the time, and I miss you so much it knocks the wind out of me.

Goodnight, my love… may we be reunited in God’s time.