You entered my life like a gentle sigh,
like a quiet breeze blowing softly through the leaves.
You were a stranger first, one who laughed freely and easily,
who spoke of minor intimacies and common grounds,
who made me feel strangely liked and valued.
You became my friend, no longer a stranger,
trusting me with secrets hidden,
confiding what you liked and hated.
We talked and laughed and, as time passed by,
I grew more and more dependent upon your smile.

From strangers to friends was just a baby step,
a step a thousand others take every day.
Without your trust and trusting ways,
without your smiles and encouraging gaze,
I would never have taken the step beyond.
But the gentle breeze blowing through the leaves
is relentless and never ending.
We became closer friends, and closer still,
until much of my life was centered around the times
we spent together.

We travel far along the path of friendship,
avoiding the bumps somehow, never stumbling,
always in step with one another.
You are my guide, my eyes and ears,
the unfailing light of God that lights the road before us.
You’ve brought me along our course,
to a destination I had never seen before.
You’ve become my best friend along that journey,
the anchor in my life where none had ever been.

You’ve done a good job of guiding our steps,
a job no other could ever do,
and it wasn’t your fault, really, when I stumbled.
Somewhere along our path,
perhaps where the heights were making me dizzy with joy,
I simply lost my balance and fell.
By the grace of God, I fell not to either side, nor to the rear,
but fell instead forward, along the path we tread.
My plunge forward was unguided, and my steps are steps you never intended.
I fell in love with you.

From strangers, to friends, to close friends, to best friends.
I’ve never been sorry for any step we’ve taken together this far,
no, not even for the fall I took.
I never knew, before knowing you, how empty my life had been.
I thought I was happy.
I thought I had known love and all that love can bring.
But the gentle breeze, blowing softly through the leaves,
carries the smell of wild flowers.
As the sweet aroma lingers. I'm reminded of the unfathomable sweetness of what you've brought into my life.

We are so very different, you and I. And yet so much the same.
And our differences merge with our similarities,
giving rise to something special and unique.
We talk.
Of all the things I value about this thing that is “us”,
and there are so many I often lose count.
I value most the way we talk about anything, any time or any where.
Each time I listen to you, each time I ponder what you’ve said,
I learn something new. About you. About me. About the world.
I’ve learned to trust in your instincts.

I love the vitality and zest that is so much a part of you.
I never would have believed the breeze, blowing softly through the leaves,
could be so filled with life.
I treasure that spark and spirit in you,
that flashing flare of fire that animates all that you do.
It’s easy to see how much you love life,
even when life is sometimes less than lovable,
and that love is always mirrored in your eyes and smile.
You are never more amazing than when that spark ignites
and your vitality blazes in your happy face.

I love the way you trust in me.
That trust started as a small seed, I think,
a tentative whisper of unearned confidence,
often shrouded by a cloak of hesitation and unsurity.
I can always tell when you falter,
when the steps we’re taking are uncertain and questioned.
And yet still you trust me,
with your secrets, with your feelings, with yourself.
You’ll never know how much that trust has meant to me.

I love the way you understand me too well.
It’s uncanny sometimes how well you know my thoughts, my feelings, my moods,
frightening at times how closely our lives have become interlinked.
You know so much of me, secrets I’ve never told,
thoughts I’ve never shared, parts of me I’ve never seen myself.
You’ve discovered a window into my being,
a window I didn’t know was there,
a window no one else has ever found.
It’s almost as if our two souls are merging into one,
almost as if the hand of God has repaired that which once was broken.

I love the way we have fun doing the strangest things,
or the way we can enjoy each other doing nothing at all.
We go on adventures, and walk, eat and talk,
We work and play,
listening to music and singing the words together.
We have fun with each other,
frolicking in our shared pleasures,
you enjoying the thrill of life,
me just enjoying you.

I’m not blinded by my love, though, and know you are not perfect.
I know you have imperfections as well as your perfections,
know your faults as well as your assets.
And I find I love you not in spite of those,
but as much because of them as anything else.

Your life has touched mine.
My friendship with you, my love for you,
all that you are and aren’t,
have changed my life in ways I cannot fathom,
in ways I could never describe in depth.
The gentle breeze, blowing softly through the leaves,
has worked wondrously,
It's transforming the ones it touches.
I’m not the same woman I was years ago.
I will never be that woman again.

The communication we’ve shared has taught me to value our honest openness,
and I know I’ll never be satisfied again with less.
Your trust in me has taught me to trust in you,
knowing you will never intentionally cause me pain.
Your spark of vitality has transformed the way I see life,
giving me reason again to live and cause to celebrate.
Your awesomeness, both inner and outer, has renewed the wonder
with which I see the world, and has restored my sense of awe.
Even the fun we share, that senseless sense of joy,
has changed the way I live and think.

As much as you’ve altered my present, though,
the effect you’ve had on my future is just as great.
I once thought I knew what love meant to me,
once thought I had experienced all that life had to offer.
I lived and I loved, and I hurt and I grew,
and I believed I could never love again,
could never willingly face the pain of caring.
Love was a myth, I thought, and true love, lasting love,
was just a lie told by poets.
But I was wrong.

In learning to love you, I discovered I’ve never loved before.
Not truly. Not entirely. Not eternally.
I’ve spent much of my life in love with love,
searching for the fulfillment of a concept,
caring more for caring than caring for another person.
And when those feelings waned, when the relationships died,
I wondered why I felt so empty. So hurt.
God changed that, and you’ve changed so much else.
You taught me how to love.

I wish you knew the me of before,
as you know so well the me of today,
so you could see the difference knowing you has made.
You’ve changed my life in so many ways,
in ways small and ways important,
in ways you’ll never know nor understand.
The impact you’ve had on me,
on the way I feel and think and act,
will endure forever. Until the end of time.
Like a quiet breeze blowing softly through the leaves

January 2008