Thanking You

Thank you!

Our first attempt at connection

continued daily as our eyes met.

After many years we spoke without words.

“Thank you,” we whispered with our eyes.

A space of time, he wasn’t there.

I missed our early morning greeting.

Our words were symbols for what we had become.

“Thank you,” we said.

And in this moment, I reach to him, thanking

for all he was and all he gave.

Thank you, our first kiss under a tree dripping with mistletoe;

wildflowers, not rigid florist arrangements.

Thank you, my engagement cigar band rather than a diamond

and Scholastica necklace sans pearls.

Thank you for our lunches at soup kitchens where we volunteered

and learning to eat simply and enjoy.

Thank you for quiet moments of hand-holding,

allowing me to sleep in your arms.

Thank you for never judging but delighting in the me you loved

crazy outside the lines theology made sense to you.

Thank you for your giant tenderness at 6’7”,

playing on the floor with grandkids who loved their Sampaw.

Thank you for your penetrating chocolate eyes.

I squirmed but told the truth—yes, I was smoking.

Thank you for allowing me my colors.

Thank you for loving me like no one else ever has.

Loving you back is my thank you … yes, in technicolor.

Pat Pickett, OblSB