Time

Summarizing time is a weird thing.

Harping on highlights/lowlights is the obvious way to approach it, but that alone doesn’t capture what that time period was really like.

Daily routines aren’t very exciting. However, the daily battles we win (or lose) contribute to something monumental.

This post is dedicated to Rachel, my beloved wife.

~5 years ago, we were prepping for our first trip to Japan. We were newlyweds with a few cats, crushing gelato & panini’s, and hosting board game nights at our apartment.

For over a decade now, you’ve been putting up with my weird mannerisms. Like how I pack for trips too far in advance, my weekly quest of re-organizing my cables/tech, and my laundry routine that never skips a beat.

Watching you dive into new hobbies & witnessing how you accumulate knowledge is astonishing.

You’ll rapidly become an expert with such little time and effort. But you’ll also continue to build your skyscraper of wisdom, years after the luster wears away.

I love that you wear your heart on your sleeve, and that you have a smile for the thousands of emotions that we’ve experienced.

A smile that can melt all the tigers in the world into butter.

We’ve accomplished a lot together: built a house, adopted cats, traveled the world. Common highlight reel kind of stuff.

I’m incredibly proud of all of that, but my favorite moments are in the day-to-day with you.

When we add to our collection of thousands of cat photos, I reminisce about our early days of sharing memes with a Dropbox folder.

We’ve grinded out RPG’s, no-life’d sitcoms, and spammed our favorite restaurants until the owners knew us by name.

You are a rule enforcer, truly a “lawful good” that brings balance to life’s ever-changing meta.

When the sky holds me down, you help me break barriers. When I fly too close to the sun, you make sure I wear sunscreen.

And sometimes, you’re just a Squirtle holding a saxophone.

Every moment I spent with you shined. Because the weather was amazing. Because the weather was awful. Because the weather was good enough. I loved every moment.

I love all the roads we will walk together. I love all the places we will see together. I love all the questions we will shyly ask each other, and all the answers to those questions.

Every awkward thing you do is the right answer.

Meeting you was the reward of my life.

I burn for you.

-N