A small thought....

It's late spring and I can see her outside through the window. She's been there all morning. On her knees working her way along the drive. My wife tends to the weeds in the same manner my mother used, and my grandmother before her come to think of it. I set my coffee down and strapping on my overalls my hat finds its center as the screen door behind me closes. She turns and looks at me and smiles as if it were her first time seeing me at the door. Rising up just as I arrive she barely has time to wipe her brow as I pick her up with a gentle twirl. Then a soft kiss as I lower her back to the ground. Propping herself up on her toes she smiles and keeps our noses touching just for a moment. "I Love you", she whispers. .... .."I've always loved you", was my reply. The morning dew has all but slipped away and the flowers in her garden reach for the sunlight they were promised the night before. Our embrace ends only as we pull away, and the last touch of our fingertips is the sign to look away and move on.

Is this our first day together or our last year? Who knows. The feeling never changes and the love only grows. I hobble away with my old broken body to start my chores knowing she doesn't see me this way nor will she acknowledge the age. A feeling makes me stop. I turn once more and notice her sitting. Not working but staring up, absorbing the sunlight as if it were spilling over and down to earth just for her. Just smiling and taking a moment for herself. She's always had a way to change the pace of our lives and slow the whole world down so we could appreciate moments we otherwise would let slip by. I just happened to see this one.

The lines on her face may be a bit deeper but her eyes are just as bright.

The hands are not quite as strong but I still hold them just as tight.

The words may come out less often but their value is still immeasurable.

Her kisses are not as deep but my heart still trembles each time.

We didn't come into this world on the same day and we surely won't leave on time together. But the days inbetween can only be measured by the pictures that don't fit into the album or the memories that are so plentiful I can't even recall. People recount their lives with a calendar and a clock. And as their last few deafening ticks draw near, they scramble to evade the final stroke. The book of our life will be written by the number of hours laying in each other's arms swaying in a hammock under the trees. Sleeping there with only the sunlight checking in on us as it crosses the sky and trickles its way down through the leaves.

Unfortunately I'm probably everything she expected me to be, she's a smart woman. But I know I never became everything she deserved. She was the prize I tried the hardest for. I was the result of a lack of options for her in a one horse town. Better to be lucky than good I guess. From the first teenage smile at the local soda fountain to the way her wedding dress blended the scenery behind her in a river of green grass over a blue lake backdrop, my life has been filled with her exceeding my expectations at every turn.

Now we find ourselves living in the moment and reflecting on the past. Letting the future unfold itself without expectation. We chose to love and lived deliberately each day. Through thick and thin we never abandoned nor did we wander. Across a bed or across a room we breathe each breath in rhythm. Her pains are mine and my work ended up being her building blocks she used to build a beautiful family.

Maybe life is meant to be slower.

Maybe life is meant to be simpler.

Maybe life is meant to be an 'us'.

And maybe..... just maybe...... we got it right.