You give me the love I need. Your love is my safe place. You nurture the best parts of myself.

I’m staying with my mother, which means I am confronted with pictures of myself at various points in my life. The older the picture, the cleaner the slate, because the youngest versions of Cassidy feature someone who has disappointed fewer people, including herself, fewer times. I would choose you for the that version of me, the one in the oldest picture. She is the most capable of choosing for the rest of them.

My heart leads me to you, Craig. You bring out the best in me. The best version of me doesn’t need to feel undeniable. The best version of me does not have to be right. I was not born that way. However, it is this flawed version of myself, the latest edition, that found you.

I don’t deserve you, but the version me in oldest versions of photographs of myself does, and she gets to make the call. She tells me where my heart goes. She chooses you for me. I chose you for her. In doing so, I reunite myself with her, the best version of myself.

I love you. I love to love you. I hope you know that. Words fail, yet they try.