Marisa Donnelly

I called you last night. Because I saw that picture,
because I wanted to know if your voice still sounded
like Saturday mornings with closed blinds,
an old truck with the windows down on the highway
in the sticky-hot Western sun. It did.

I won’t disappear from your life like a ghost you forget about, like a ghost that never mattered. I won’t haunt you, but I won’t become invisible. I’m the type of girl that no matter what happens, no matter why or how or what put a giant rift between us, I’ll always have love for you.

You cannot always see the timeline of your life with tick marks at every painful memory. You cannot choose to remember the people that have hurt you, the negative words that have been shared, the times when you were low and didn’t know if you’d make it through.

Because you did. You did make it through.

She’ll be gentle, even in her anger.

Everywhere on the internet you’ll read about ‘living your best life,’ or ‘living the life you’ve always imagined’ or just ‘living a good freaking life’ and although all these articles and posts and Instagram photos and blogs and advice columns have our best intentions in mind, they’re narrowly focused.

“Her smile. I swear to God it stops me in my tracks.”

Laughter. Which is often overlooked, but so very essential for a strong relationship. There needs to be moments of silliness, of finding joy in the simple things, of teasing one another, and of not taking life so seriously.

We love food. Honestly, eating is probably the highlight of our days.