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

Day One

My dearest Super,

This morning was strange.

Not because anything was wrong.

Nothing had changed.

The coffee still brewed.

The birds still argued outside the window.

The sunlight still slipped through the curtains exactly the way it always does.

The world kept moving as though it hadn’t noticed you were gone.

But I noticed.

Oh… I noticed.

It wasn’t loud.

It wasn’t dramatic.

It was quieter than that.

It was reaching for my phone before my eyes were fully open because somewhere between dreaming and waking, my heart had already gone looking for you.

It was smiling when I saw your picture.

It was whispering, “Good morning, handsome,” before realizing there would be no sleepy smile waiting on the other side of the bed.

Funny, isn’t it?

How one person can leave for a little while and somehow take the gravity of an entire room with them.

It isn’t measured by grand gestures.

It’s measured by instinct.

The instinct to turn and tell you something funny.

The instinct to reach for your hand while watching a movie.

The instinct to save the best part of my day because I can’t wait to tell you about it.

Love sneaks into the ordinary until the ordinary becomes sacred.

That’s what you’ve done to my life.

You have taken all the little moments—the grocery lists, the morning coffee, the silly conversations, the comfortable silence—and somehow transformed them into the places where happiness lives.

People think soulmates are recognized during fireworks.

I think they’re recognized in Tuesday afternoons.

They’re recognized in the comfort of simply existing beside one another.

They’re recognized in the peace that settles over your heart when one particular voice says your name.

You are that peace for me.

You are the place my thoughts run to when something wonderful happens.

You’re the one I want to celebrate with.

The one I want to lean on.

The one whose opinion matters because your heart has become intertwined with mine.

Before you, I thought love was supposed to feel exciting all the time.

Now I know better.

Love feels like coming home.

It feels like safety.

Like laughter echoing through another room.

Like falling asleep knowing tomorrow gets to begin beside your favorite person.

And now…

For a little while…

Tomorrow begins differently.

But here’s the beautiful part.

Distance changes geography.

It doesn’t change belonging.

You still belong in every dream I dream.

You still occupy the quiet spaces between my thoughts.

You still make me smile when something reminds me of you.

You still make me blush when your name appears on my phone.

You’re still the man who makes forever sound too short.

Twenty-four days.

That’s all.

Not forever.

Just enough time for me to remind you—every single day—how extraordinary it feels to be loved by you.

So today…

I don’t want you worrying about me.

I don’t want you feeling guilty because we’re apart.

I want you to carry one simple truth with you wherever today takes you.

There is a woman who is unbelievably proud to be your wife.

A woman who still gets butterflies.

Who still smiles at your photos.

Who still catches herself laughing because she remembered something you said three weeks ago.

Who still cannot believe she gets to love a man like you.

You have given me a thousand reasons to smile.

So while you’re away…

I’ll keep collecting them.

One sunrise at a time.

Until the morning I don’t have to imagine kissing you good morning anymore.

I’ll simply do it.

And when that day comes…

Don’t expect me to let go anytime soon.

You’ve been warned.

Come back to me safely.

Come back with stories.

Come back with that smile that somehow still makes my knees weak.

Come back knowing that every mile between us has only reminded me of something I already knew.

If I had to choose again…

Out of everyone in this world…

Through every lifetime…

Across every possibility…

I would still find my way back to you.

Every.

Single.

Time.

Sleep well tonight, my handsome husband.

And if, for even a moment, you begin to wonder whether someone is thinking about you…

Stop wondering.

The answer is yes.

Always yes.

Always me.

Forever your wife,

Trinity