U R U

You’re quite a brave person, having taken a great risk at exposing yourself. You are, clearly, a beacon of strength. Oh, I know it’s possible that I’ll disappoint you, make you angry and sad, too. It’s a skill I seem to have. But, I don’t mean it maliciously and you generate a real desire in me, and in most people, I would wager, to treat you with seriousness and respect when it comes to matters of the heart.

If I had to shuffle off this mortal coil right now, my one real regret would be that I didn’t come to appreciate sooner the intricate mosaic of what makes human beings human – thoughts, feelings, impressions, delusions, jealousy and selfishness, truths, lies, love and hate. To step back and behold, in the precise sense of that word, the majesty of complexity and the beauty of the mystery of the individual. And to be let in to that world, the intimate space of those hollow mangroves, is an esteemed and rare privilege, too easily demeaned and too often taken as a right.

So, thank you for existing, for letting me into the gallery of your life and for being exactly the right person at the right time, no matter what. I haven’t earned it, but I’ll take it and defend it, first for you and then for me, but for no one else. The pedestal fits you, very well.