The Things We Never Send

I heard the same song again today.

I have been playing it far too often lately.

There is a part of it that makes love sound less like possession and more like being allowed to remain yourself beside another person.

I think that is what stays with me.

Not the romance.

Not even the promise of forever.

Just the idea that someone could know the difficult parts of you and not treat them as a reason to leave.

Maybe some people grow up believing love will find them naturally.

I think I learned something different.

I learned to notice people quietly.

To admire without approaching.

To care without making it visible.

There is safety in distance.

You cannot lose something you never asked to hold.

But sometimes a song gets through the walls anyway.

And suddenly I remember that beneath all the caution, there is still a part of me that wants something very ordinary.

Someone to choose.

Someone who chooses me.

And a life in which neither of us has to be afraid of what that means.