Look what's under my tree

Sweet freedom whispered in my ear
You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly

Someone Saved My Life Tonight - John and Taupin

I met Juliet Williams on the night of Dec 11, 2006. We went to a restaurant beyond my means for dinner and we have been exceeding my means dining out for the six years since we met. I encountered the most complimentary personality to my own that day in December. I knew I would likely never meet another so carefully balanced in her deeds and demeanor that could so effortlessly be herself in the presence of my naturally overbearing disposition. As far as I was concerned it was a done deal within weeks and we would save our families the embarrassment of hasty nuptials and hold off on the wedding as long as we could. I have spent 6 nights away from Juliet in the past 6 years and I hope that I say the same number 6 years from now.

In modern love science we are likely labeled some sort of afflicted couple with some unnatural dependence upon the presence of one another. That may be true, and at the same time I have no idea how many days I have on this planet so if you don't mind I would prefer to spend them with Juliet. I don't want a sweat lodge, or a Vegas romp with the boys. I don't have any drive to be a solo travel writer running off to exotic places and drinking myself calm on lonely flights across the globe.

This Christmas, like last Christmas will have been spent in the company of friends rather than our families home in Texas. If Juliet was not here this would not have been an option. Juliet is my family and represents that grounding love I have with my blood kin. This is what I love about being human. I can meet someone, fall in love with her and then eclipse that level of love by accepting Juliet into my true kinship. I am certain that our married life is the joining of two beings to better exist as a couple. I have always heard and was counseled to believe we are one and indivisible and that we should remain so even in marriage. Well, then why the hell would I get married? I got married to become a state of "Us" to become the company of 2 in 1. I do not think this is about completion so much as it is about ascendance. It is simply the fact that I am a better man married to Juliet than I was before. If you ask 20 people who knew me before Juliet and after, I am confident that 20 of 20 would agree with my prior sentence.

Juliet, in the course of this year you have put our journey on a map where before there were only outlines of dreams. Where there were tiny islands of hope now stand continents of joy. It has been a real challenge to seek a path dictated by the "whimsical" pursuits of bliss and personal direction. You work every day in a world in which you know you could bypass were it not for us. You choose this path because it has allowed us to flow in a time when the planet seems to be immersed in glaciers of stagnation.

In the past 6 years we have seen a much higher percentage of the planet than in our prior years combined and the joy we have experienced from the souls we have encountered on this journey is worth every moment we spent in consternation debating the paths and means to our goals.

This Christmas does not bring trees of gifts, gobs of fudgy sweets, nor the occasion to sit and watch our nieces and nephews lose their minds. No, this Christmas brings us upon a different landscape reminding us all the time that life exists presently and hopefully forwardly. Our memories cannot be relived lest they putrefy and remove themselves from the pantheon of our storied pasts. We have chosen something so much more than ordinary because you have made it happen. Your creative and diligent being, inspire me everyday to push forward.

You facilitate my being and I can only hope that what we create together will in turn facilitate your ultimate freedom from the current constraints of the path as it evolves. You simply are the greatest gift I have ever been given and although cliche', you are the gift that keeps on giving. This may be more of a philosophical rant than most of you expected to read on Christmas morning and if so, go back to sleep or have another piece of ribbon candy. Juliet is the reason I am here and if you have ever enjoyed a single post on this site then she is to thank because without her I am certain I would be toiling away; looking for her and knowing she must be out there somewhere.

Thank God when I looked in my stocking this morning, she was there just like she always is. Merry Christmas Juliet , you are the most blissful adventure of my life!

My love always,

Michael