A year ago today was the first time I touched your face, the first time I smelled your skin, and the first time I was wrapped up in your embrace. I am still able to draw upon these memories with vivacious fondness, as if it was reality only moments before. Stepping off the plane and walking down the gate, thats when it hit me. “This is real,” I thought to myself as I was overcome with an electric shock that resembled a strange juxtaposition of terror and joy. You were clad in a white shirt, white shoes, white cap and thin jeans. When I spotted you watching me, I walked up, bravely kissed you & sheepishly said “hello” all the while I could feel my skin flushing red.

In the truck (because you never called it what it was, it was always a truck) my hand found it’s way into yours and suddenly being stuck in DC traffic on a humid July afternoon wasn’t nearly as bad. The stuffed panda that you surprised me with (who still has no name) sat in my lap and pacified the anticipation that my mind would wrap itself up in. But I was not nearly as nervous as I thought I might have been.

After the thunder & lightning calmed, we layed in bed at the Westin; naked & vulnerable. The lamps cast a warm glow throughout the room & we decided that we both wanted our house to be decorated in modern hotel-style decor. “It feels like we’ve known each other forever, it’s so comfortable” you commented and leaned into me to rest your head upon my shoulder. We spent the rest of the night wrapped around each other under the sheets, ruminating over simple matters, inciting laughter, and sharing invaluable moments of silence. You feel asleep with your arms around me and your face nuzzled into the nape of my neck. I could feel your chest rise and fall against me as the sound of your breathing lulled me into safety and dreams.