Sonnet I

The sun runs through my veins, and your arms cradle me;
Your fingertips caress my skin, gently tracing works of art;
Our eyes are mirror images, reflecting the world endlessly;
I breathe in the scent of you, and it lights a fire in my heart.
Just as nature intended, and like millions gone before,
We've fallen in the deep end; body, mind and soul.
Unlike those millions however, it's you alone I adore;
We're two halves that make a complete whole.
You ruffle my hair, and I scrunch my face tight;
A grin breaches my front, and we collapse in laughter,
A giggling pair, two of a kind, and a sweet sight;
We toast with a kiss, hopeful for happy ever after.
Ups and downs will always come our way,
But how could I do anything but stay?

(by Megan Dwinell, Renee's daughter)

Say... does this guy look familiar?

(A picture found in my church)

Before.

Long ago I used to hear people say that they wouldn't change a thing about the past, because it made them who they are.

I used to take a rather contrary stance on that. I believed that there are many routes to get to where one is, and that through the minefield isn't a route to appreciate.

I think I get it now though.

I think that we are the sum of our experiences. I am what I am today--and I say this believing that I'm in my best emotional state ever--specifically because of some of what I experienced. I could not have this perspective, this openness, this capacity to understand, this willingness to forgive myself and to let love in, without all that came before.