When you open your eyes in the morning, I want you to feel my love like the first fresh breath of air filling your lungs. I want to be the calm of the sunrise, the rays floating lazily through your window, the cars humming by. I want to be the smile that slips across your face unconsciously, as you stretch your spine and run your fingers through your messy hair.

I want to be the warmth, the quiet, the tenderness that welcomes you to a brand new day.

When you start a pot of coffee, when you wiggle into your clean clothes, when you brush your teeth and stare at your reflection in the bathroom mirror, I want you to feel my arms slip around your waist. I want you to feel at ease, at peace knowing I’m with you—physically, emotionally. And even when I’m not standing next to you, putting on my mascara in careful strokes or hogging all the sink water, I’m with you.

No matter how far apart we are, you’re still mine.

When we are in proximity, I want you to enjoy our closeness—the dance we do around the bathroom, the laughter we share when you bump me mid-eyeliner stroke and a black mess blurs across my eyelid. I want the mundane moments, the simplicity in which we get ready together, in which we fall into habits, in which we’re comfortable and content. I want it all.

And when we are apart, I want you to remember me as you fix your tie or take your first sips of juice. I want to be the person you think about when the little things happen, the person with whom you want to share every bit of news.

I want to be the drop of color in your darkness, the light that never fades out of your mind, the thought always floating in your head, a necessary piece of you.

We could be sharing the same space or reaching out to one another through phone lines. We could be steps away, or time zones apart. We could be seconds or hours from the last time we’ve seen one another.

But no matter where you are, or where I am, I want you to feel my love in every part of you.

I want you to feel my love when you least expect it, a beautiful surprise reminding you that I am always here. I want you to feel my love when I can’t be there to hold you, my heart bursting with genuine affection, despite the distance between us.

I want you to feel my love in your tired hands, in your soft lips. In every physical way that’s possible. In how I comfort you, pull you close when your muscles are sore and your eyes are heavy. In my voice, my actions, my smile, my laugh.

I want my love to overflow, to strengthen you, rebuild you when you’re down.

I want you to feel my love in your legs, pushing you forward. In your grin, slowly spreading across your face. In your chest, beating wild and powerful as we grow stronger each day, no matter what this life throws at us.

I want you to never question, never wonder, never feel any absence of affection in your being.

Throughout every day, I want you to know, to feel, to be filled by all that I can give you. All that I forever will.