two years ago

(Remembering out loud)

Do you remember hiking two years ago?

Yes, we went hiking two years ago today. I know only because of the photographs. Two tiny photographs I took. I had to stop and sit down…It was hard for me to breathe, so I paused and you and T hiked on. Once I caught my breath, I took photographs. One of my clogs, on the trail. The other of the winding stream the trail followed.

I remember being happy and sad. As I sat there, attuned to my natural surroundings, I realized with a jolt the inevitability of autumn’s dawning. I think I may have cried, but I don’t actually remember if I did cry while waiting for you to come back or not. I suspect I did, because as I remember, as I close my eyes and see the leaves beneath my feet, the rocks in the stream, dipping my hand into the cool waters…as I remember how shady and dark the forest was, how the sunlight streamed through the dying leaves that clung to the trees, how green it smelled…as I remember sitting on the bench, shifting to a rock, whittling a stick with a rock…waiting…waiting…waiting…for you to come back, and something more…

As I remember all of this, tears spring to my eyes.

I must have cried as I sat there, waiting for you.

And you came back.
Because you always do.