Dear Soulmate...

John

To my dearest soulmate,

Whoever you may be...

Hello. I'm John. On the outside, I already don't seem like much, but it's good you're staying for this. Let me see, how do I phrase this? I love you. What else? This is my first letter to you that I know of. So maybe I should make a list of all our firsts. (At least what I want them to be)

First hello:

I saw you. You were so beautiful. The autumn air blew your scarf into your face and you laughed as you pulled it away. A biker flew past you. As you swerved to avoid him, I saw you start to fall. I rushed behind you and caught you before you hit the ground. You looked at me, your eyes sparking. "Thanks," you said. I smiled. "No problem. I'm just the average hero." You smiled and a red blush crept onto your cheeks to match your cold red nose. "Hey," I said. "Hi," you replied. That's how it all began.

First date:

I was nervous. We'd been hanging out for two years now. We were the best of friends. Our friends had started "shipping" us together at that point. We were always laughing, joking, and poking at each other. They must have thought it was cute. And I decided to do something about it. It was on the day we met, just two years later. We were walking in the park, just talking and joking like friends always do. Suddenly, I mustered up courage. Something in me just spoke. "Hey, we've been hanging out for a while now. I think maybe... we should do what they joke about." I think I might've blushed at that point, or maybe it was the crisp air. "We should go out," you replied, nodding. That began a new chapter.

First kiss:

It was the average kind of night. We were going to hang out, but you got grounded. I totally understood, though. The night before, you had been late back home. At least you didn't care. You just smiled and told your parents you loved them. All day, we'd been on the phone just laughing. You were dancing around your room in a dress, singing Mariah Carey. I could hear you belting out the lyrics, even when my phone wasn't against my ear. Then, later, I came over. You had a tree by your window back then. I climbed up and onto the balcony outside your door. I did the knock we came up with and you slid the door open. You walked out with your laptop and a huge blanket. Sliding the door shut again, you sat in one of the chairs. I sat in another right beside you. As you covered us in your blanket and started the movie, I could notice both of us scooting closer. I entwined our hands and leaned towards you. You tore your eyes from the movie to look at me. That's when I did it. I placed my lips on yours gently, not hungrily, like many people do. You smiled into it and kissed back. And let me tell you now, all those butterflies we feel were dancing around in my belly like a hailstorm. Those fireworks people say go off were exploding in my brain all at once. The sparks between us were lighting a fire bright enough to scare away even the darkness that surrounded the thousands of stars above us. But the only thing I could feel was your lips on mine and my hand on your cheek. You paused the movie carefully and told me if this moment were recordable, you'd have replayed it ten times by now. Every time I see the moon, I see that night and feel everything for you all over again.

First fight:

It was over something stupid. Probably that time we went to the beach and didn't volunteer to lifeguard when they were short a guy. But it was on,y us and we didn't need saving. But the fight wasn't even bad. We just didn't talk for an hour like kids would do. After that, we came running to each other and embraced like we'd never stopped. Because that's what love is.

First proposal:

I knew you didn't want anything big, so I didn't plan any elaborate scheme like those YouTube clichés show. Instead, I took you to the place we met. We sat and had a picnic. We'd been together six years at this point and the freefall of love was over. All that was left now was flight. I looked at you and you looked at me. We were already sitting, so I kneeled up and lowered a leg, so I was on my one knee. I stared down at you as your hands covered your mouth and tears filled you eyes. I gave you a great long speech about everything I loved about you. The list was so long, I'm sure I was on that knee for at least twenty minutes. When it was over I pulled out the ring my family had shared for so many generations. My mother, after meeting you, said it was in our eyes how much we loved each other. You saw it and tackled me with a kiss. I slid the ring on your finger and we laughed, tears filling our eyes and love filling our minds. After that, you pulled out your iPod and played our song. We danced until we couldn't dance anymore. People in that park probably thought we were crazy. But we didn't care.

First vows:

I'm never going to forget the tears I shed when I first saw you in your white gown. I'm never going to forget the approval I saw in your father's eyes as he so readily handed you to me. I'm never going to forget your mother looking at me as if I were the best thing for her daughter. I'm never going to forget the look in your best friend's eyes as she cried. I'm never going to forget hearing you say "I do," while you looked at me it's more live than I knew. I'm never going to forget the vows you promised to me and how much I believed every word. I'm never going to forget the tears I shed when I saw you start to cry after I'd promised myself to you. I'm never going to forget that we said "I do."

That's where I'm going to end this. I want the rest to be up to you. I don't know how many kids we'll have. I don't know how many fights we'll have. I'm going to let the future be the future and hope I never have to say the first goodbye.

With all the love in my heart and mind,

I love you.

Love,

John