270

For my wife, a happy monthly anniversary as we sit on the cusp of the shortest day of the year, when the darkness is at its greatest. But it’s the depth of the winter abyss. Everything after is more light and eventually more warmth. It’s another winter we are spending away from loved ones, away from America. It’s our third in Europe, our second in Scandinavia, and our first with just one cat.  I hope you are happy. I hope the darkness and the renewed COVID restrictions doesn’t make you feel boxed in. I hope another Christmas away from your family don’t make you alone and unloved. No one should feel that, especially this time of year, and especially you. I love you.

 269

Happy monthly anniversary, my love.

It’s that time again when the darkness takes over for days and months and we all start to retreat into sweaters, long coats, hygge lights, and the appeal to sleep long hours. We will rest here for the holidays and see in another year in Denmark. We will have lived abroad for another year, making a new life in a foreign country. I hope you are enjoying this. I hope you feel loved and safe here. 

I love you.

 268

To my wife, another monthly anniversary for us. 

There and back again regarding Chicago, regarding the marathon, regarding seeing my family for the first time in the two years of plague. At least the flights were near empty. Our own flying couches where we could sleep in peace. 

Away from home for a week. I forgot what it was like to vacate. But then I never vacated well. 

Thank you for watching me run, and trying to find me at different spots along the course. I promise next marathon will be local. No need to fly thousands of miles to see me sweat. 

 267

To my wife, on our monthly anniversary. I love you, and I hope you are always happy. 

 266

To my wife, a happy monthly anniversary. This time around we are joined by your parents, who managed to get their vaccinations and be well enough and COVID free enough to travel through Europe and work their way to see us after stopping in our old city of Amsterdam. Being home, you'll spend more time with them, which is fair. Perhaps needed. You haven't seen them for a couple years, part of the wide gulf enforced on millions around the world where we couldn't travel in 2020...and even if we did, we wouldn't want to. We were isolating to save each other...hiding out of love, giving each other signs of life via livestreaming from tablets on birthdays, holidays, when the distance got too much to bear. 

I hope their visit nourishes you and sustains you. It's a needed gift.