Before You Turn the First Page

My love,

If you’re reading this…

Then you’ve already left.

I imagine you’re probably somewhere between places.

Maybe you’re waiting at a gastation.

Maybe you’re laying down after a long day.

Maybe you’re sitting in a truck seat looking at this web page and smiling because you already know I’m incapable of doing anything halfway when it comes to loving you.

You’re right.

I am.

I thought about what I could possibly give you while you were gone.

A photograph?

You’ll already have those.

A hoodie sprayed with my perfume?

Tempting.

A playlist?

Already made.

But none of those could do what I wanted them to do.

None of them could sit beside you when I couldn’t.

None of them could whisper, “I love you,” when you needed to hear it.

You once changed my understanding of what home meant.

I used to think home was walls.

An address.

A place.

Then you happened.

Now home sounds like your laugh.

It feels like your hand finding mine.

It looks like your smile when you catch me staring at you.

It smells like your hoodie hanging over the back of a chair.

It feels like your arms wrapping around me after a day that asked too much.

Home became a person.

You.

And while you’re away…

I’m going to build a little home for you inside these pages.

Somewhere you can come whenever you miss me.

Somewhere my heart can reach yours without asking permission from distance.

There is one thing I hope you never forget while you’re reading this.

Not once.

Not on the hardest day.

Not when you’re tired.

Not when you’re lonely.

Not even for a second.

You are loved in a way that changes me.

You are appreciated in ways I probably don’t say often enough.

You are admired not only for what you do, but for the man you are when no one else is watching.

I see your kindness.

I see your strength.

I see your patience.

I see the gentle way you love.

I see the quiet sacrifices you make that most people will never notice.

I see you.

And every day you’re gone, I want to remind you that being seen is one of the greatest gifts two people can give each other.

So…

Welcome to twenty-four days of us.

Twenty-four mornings.

Twenty-four sunsets.

Twenty-four opportunities for me to love you out loud.

Read slowly.

Smile often.

Come home safely.

I’ll be here.

Waiting…

With a heart that has never once regretted choosing yours.

Forever your wife,

Trinity