Haiku 2023–349

up at one a.m.

not because of worries

but from gratitude

— —

Someone I’ve known and worked with for years recently went to Vegas and got married. I honestly couldn’t be happier for him and his new husband — they’re good for one another. Everyone deserves someone to love truly and deeply and be happy with.

I know this because I’m fortunate enough to find myself in this situation.

I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a sentimental softie when it comes to marriage. Almost every wedding we’ve been to creates a moment where I go searching for my wife’s hand and shed a tear or two of joy. While we didn’t attend the wedding, thinking about the life ahead for the newly-minted couple stirs up memories from the twenty-two years my beloved and I have spent together. We have navigated the full-spectrum of emotions during our time together and still have a darker moment every now and then, but we find ourselves on the whole enjoying the place we find ourselves. After decades of hard, hard work, we deserve it and are going to live life to the fullest because of that.

As often happens to fifty-two year old men, I found myself awake becaues of nature’s call in the earliest hours of the morning. When I settled back into bed, I listened to my wife’s soft breathing as she lay three feet to my right. A feeling of peace fell over me as I played the highlight reel of our lives together in my mind. Even the darker times radiate light because of the work we put in together to get on the other side of those moments.

Yes, I was up at one a.m., but it wasn’t worry that kept me up. I was awake because I have someone that I love truly and deeply and am very happy with.