halvesies, or an un-traditional valentine on an un-valentine’s day

for my valentine, my other half, of course

i can’t wait to see what take four on half-you/half-me is like.

our first experience of “halvesies” is now seven-and-a-half going on thirty. he is a thoughtful, brilliant, sensitive schemer who really does love giving a clever handmade gift as much as he loves receiving a shiny, purchased-for-him one. he is an excessively social extrovert who craves an hour stashed away with a book. he can’t get enough of running or playing or swimming or jumping or talkingtalkingtalking or most anything, really; he resists all limits and boundaries even as he intuitively deciphers his own. he craves attention and love even as he attempts to hide his need for it. even his appearance is sometimes all you and sometimes all me, and most often a perfect mix of a dissimilar pair. halvesies, indeed.

our second experience was the perfectly opposite combination physically of her big brother’s perfect mix of us, trading dark eyes for light, olive complexion for ivory, cowlicks and waves for ringlets, dark-but-always-getting-lighter hair for the palest of blondes, narrow chiseled face for round. her secret personality was harder to unravel, but she combined a love of physical contact with a craving for peace and quiet, even as you and i do. her brilliance was of the physical type, lighting the way as she did in more ways than one, as opposed to her brother’s verbal brand of enlightenment. among her few decipherable likes were warm water and a good snuggle. how could two versions of halvesies be both so different and yet such complete combinations of the same two elements?

our third version of half-you/half-me remains a tantalizing mystery. someday we’ll get to know this enigmatic combination in his or her fullest completeness. and i look forward to that day.

and what will our fourth experience of two-halves-make-a-whole look like? what will she sound like? what will her passions be? as the time draws near when the adventure of finding that out will begin, i find myself endlessly excited to see which of my favorite parts of you will show up this time. will she share your passions, your strength, your sensitivity? your selflessness, your fiery red-headedness, your creativity? your determination, your longings, your laugh? discovering her particular combination of us will be yet another adventure, one i can’t imagine embarking upon with anyone other than you. so here’s to the next leg of a great journey of loving each other in and through and together with an as-yet undiscovered person who we already couldn’t love more.

happy february 17, my love.