Dear you,

I'm sorry...

you couldn't become

the man I prayed for

until after

I stopped praying for us.

One day,

she'll watch you

stop an argument

before it becomes a wound.

She'll never know

I spent years

begging you

to lower your voice

and hear mine.

She'll think

your patience

came naturally.

She'll never know

it had to grow somewhere.

She'll see you

say,

"I'm sorry."

before your pride

has time

to interrupt.

She'll never understand

why hearing those words

would have brought

an older version of me

to tears.

And that's okay.

There are parts of you

she deserves to know

without first meeting

the versions

that broke us both.

I hope

you love her

the way

I always imagined

you could.

I hope

you notice

when her smile

is hiding something.

I hope

you reach for her hand

before she has to ask.

I hope

you become

everything

I always saw

inside you.

Not because

I wasn't enough...

but because

sometimes

people bloom

in seasons

they were never meant

to share with us.

I'll find love too.

Someone

who won't have to be taught

how to choose me.

Someone

whose love

doesn't feel like

a language

I'm constantly translating.

And I'll be happy.

I really will.

I hope

you are too.

But I wonder...

years from now...

when she's asleep

beside you,

and he's breathing softly

next to me...

will we ever

cross each other's minds?

Not with regret.

Not with longing.

Just...

with gratitude

for the people

who loved us

before we became

easy to love.

So if there is

another life...

find me

before fear does.

Find me

before timing

gets it wrong.

Find me

when we're still strangers

with hearts

that haven't learned

how to leave.

And maybe...

we'll finally get

the story

this lifetime

couldn't give us.

You'll smile.

I'll smile back.

And you'll say,

"I've been waiting for you."

I'll take your hand...

and answer,

"I know."