Dear Happiness:
How have you been, my old friend?
It’s been a while since I checked-in,
So I thought I would catch up with
This little note about my life and you.
While I have been happy these past
Years, it was always more by choice
Than by circumstance. Sure, I had
Good times and good fortune, and
Much to be thankful for in my life. I
Smiled and laughed when I heard
Something funny, danced to the
Music that made me reminisce,
Took joy in the early morning sunrise,
Marveled at all the amazing places
I was privileged to visit. Recalled the
Adventures of a lifetime – feeling the
Freedom of a good boat hard on the
Wind, the salt spray deliciously forming
On my lips, the quiet rocking in the
Dark at a safe anchorage at day’s end.
The first smile and steps of a child, the
Pride when she asked me to teach her
Something or help with her homework.
Happy for the company of the few I call
Friends and for the memory of good times
Shared and toasts made to celebrate
All the events of a lifetime. These things
And more made me happy, and they still
Bring me happiness. But now, my dear
Friend, my happiness is transformed and
I find it more deeply in my life than ever
Before. It has more measure and form.
It has a color that dazzles the senses, and
A freedom that seems to know no bounds.
If my happy scale was at one hundred percent
Before, it is now well off the charts. It seems,
Dear friend, I have found the one person in
Life I was meant to find. The one who adds
Happy to my happy. The one who I can sit
Quietly on the beach with, or debate politics.
The one with whom I can share a meal and
Steal a kiss. The one who lets me pour a drink
But not refill her glass. The one who has a smile
That lights my soul and a kiss that sets it afire.
So that’s what’s new, dear Happiness. I am still
A happy person, living in the absolute wonder of
All that life has gifted me with, and loving every
Minute of every day with the hope that I add to her
Happiness as she adds to mine.