She was a type of girl that took no shit. Never accepted a no for an answer, stubborn to the core. And I admired her for every ounce of strength she exerted that I was never capable of. But it wasn't until I saw her compassion that I actually started to like her. Her ability to forgive and forget and carry no weight of regret on her shoulders that she could see the good in people and put it out to them even when they were blind to it. And she is about the only person I know who will point out the lush flowers during a storm. The seedling nestled in a mud by the queen of silver lining has never been crowned, but perhaps it's because she has no competition to run against her for it. Yes, I liked the positivity in her smile, the hope in her eyes, understanding in her touch. But even so, I couldn't like her that much. I started to fall in love when I saw her vulnerability. When I saw past the positivity on her crow's feet and dove so first into her brown fields of golden green haze, as hazelnized, that reached into me so far deep without hardly any effort that I wonder if she felt the journey at all. Her sadness and fear and hidden insecurities in her eyes. There's pride and playful innocence in her smile. I catch her reflection every time I get the chance now because I am so proud to have known her to fall in love with someone so interesting and so captivated and you can call me vain for wanting to stare at her, but you're not seeing what I see. She's not her extremities. Her power and her sensitivity, courage in her flaws and it's not till you notice that her heart is extended to the tip of her fingers. You see she's walking through life inside of me. I love her today. More than I ever have my whole entire life, our journey has just begun and I know I'll be alright. So long as I have her with me for the right. You know what I was thinking? It took me 27 years to like myself, to understand myself, to accept myself and to uncondition and love myself. So it's kind of unfair to accept somebody else to go through the process of understanding me and accepting me and loving me in just a matter of months. Yes. Somebody can do that. It would just mean they would have had to come to understand who they are in order to do so. It's possible. If they're not connected with everything about themselves, then it becomes very impossible. Very unlikely. It's easier to see people for who they are once you've taken the time to reflect on who you are in the mirror. And you've come a very long way in just a matter of two, three years. When was it? 2013? I'm proud of me. Good. You should be. You have every right to be.