I want you to know that I’m not sad

You, as well as I know you,

Limitations and all,

Are not one to be left behind.

With one of the most robust personalities I’ve ever encountered,

And large still among those I’m destined to meet.

Adventure becomes you.

Never one to follow,

You have taken off again.

To create a plethora of new stories no doubt.

Not unlike the stories I remember you telling when I first visited you as a child.

The details of which have faded, but the memories remain.

Immune to the effects of time that erodes us both.

A woman of strength, grace, intelligence and beauty.

A woman I admire and have aspired to and will continue to chase.

And, if the universe be so kind,

I carry hopes of seeing you again someday.

Somewhere in the vastness of space.

Where you will tell me new stories of even grander places than before.

And I, ever a child, peering into your large expressive eyes,

Will listen.

Waiting patiently to tell you a much simpler story.

The story of how I became a man.

How I lived.

And how I died.

Before Heaven’s sunset on a veranda overlooking a familiar garden

Drinking fruit juice and eating quiche

Before it gets cold.