from your millie

for my puck:

 
   you've gotten older. i looked over just the other day, watching for the way your eyes found mine across the room. and when i saw you, i couldn't believe it. when did you get so tall? when did you get so...wonderful?
   because i was used to finding fault. and i was used to seeing time pull things apart. but there you were. here you are. you are tall, and you are brave, and you are wonderful. i see the way you talk to them. the way you watch them intently, like they are important. the way you stand for them, when their backs ache.
 
  i was not there at the beginning.

  i did not see everything. somehow i wish i had. but i am here now, and it has been a very long few years for us. we were just children, back then, and we had hearts that were easily damaged. did you break mine? i look all around, but i feel no memory of losing something. from all accounts, they would say that i did, indeed, lose you.
 
   but they didn't know.

   someone once told me that love never stops growing if it's real. i guess i imagined that didn't apply to us, because why would we ever need to hear it? but i was wrong. and so i'm going to tell you now, before the sun goes behind the clouds. quick! before i run out of courage! before i lose my-

   i still love you.

   there. Maker be with you.


- from your millie