Everyone who I’ve felt strongly about—whether family, friends, romantic relationships, or something in between—have all left me with something, after we parted ways, that will follow me for a long time, if not the rest of my life. As for you, it’s a few things. It’s you consistently taking the time to express gratitude for something, anything—even if it doesn’t directly impact you. It’s your care for Earth and society, even as it crumbles around you. It’s your care for yourself, too. It’s your soft touch and your admirable passion and commitment. It’s you being present. The passion and attention you give to others. You’re raw too. It’s like mama Earth made you herself, so you’re not able to be anything except for raw, natural, and spiritual. Each time that I called you pretty or beautiful, that’s what I meant. Each time I pointed out the galaxies in your eyes, that’s what I saw.
But the thing about you that I’m sure will stay with me the longest is how you always took the time to appreciate the flowers on the edge of concrete—things that the average Joe and Mary walk by every day without noticing, probably. It’s not to say that you stop to smell the roses, but it’s more that you make sure to give the proper attention and acknowledgement to the flower that push through and grew from the concrete. That says a lot about you, and I look forward to practicing that in my own life. Thank you.
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