I met him when it was still cold in January

He was in a thick jacket and I remember his eyes

They were so kind

I met his daughter that night too and she warmed by the fire and we chatted as her aunts and cousins surrounded us with warm chatter of their own

He stayed on the edges, quiet, watching

I was intrigued by his silence 

And his half smile that made his eyes dance 

And his voice, I couldn't pinpoint it then but the bass in it drew me to my knees, almost as much as the softness in it would later on, when I realized it was reserved just for me

Our first date I tapped on his shoulder and when he turned around and looked at me I saw those eyes were hazel

And we kind of melted into each other after having talked as friends and building finally toward more, and being there in person again and feeling fate face us in real time

He had waited for me

I had been messy and indecisive and scared to commit to a heart that would hurt me again

So he waited until I could see how he was different

How he was the one

And when I did, there was no turning back

After that night we were a unit

Birds of a feather I guess

Or souls of kindred origins

Something beyond what we can still understand

But he's my guy

He shows me the world in ways I didn't know it existed

Wild, real, untainted, honest

We walk through mountains and ride through hills, shooting our guns and taking in God's beauty

He's what I always dreamed of

A rugged man with a soft heart and firm moral boundaries

A Dad who leads by example and loves hard 

A partner who is slow to speak and quick to listen

A man who will lead me just as readily as he will walk beside me and support my dreams 

He is everything

And although everything could have happened differently had we met before we did, I'm grateful it didn't, because our story wasn't supposed to start until then

And my life restarted the day he walked in