Tender Mercies

My birthday happens to be National Hug Day. So naturally, we had to take a picture commemorating it! Two weeks ago my dad emailed me, asking me what I wanted for my birthday. At the time, my sister was touring Europe with my mom before beginning her semester-long internship in London. I told my dad that I wanted a plane ticket to Europe, but that I was just kidding. Except for that I wasn't. But let's be realistic here.  I celebrated my birthday this past week and was definitely spoiled by family and friends, most especially by my sweet guy. It all began on my birthday eve when, upon finishing up dinner, I told him that I just wanted to go take a hot lavender-salt bath.  He told me he would clean up from dinner and that I was to not worry about a thing. My body and mind thanked me as my muscles relaxed after a heavy day of stretching and yoga.   The next day I did not see Marshall until 6:20 PM. I began my day with a lovely yoga session in my living room, my ...

I walked into the bathroom with my eyes half-way open. It was 2:30 AM. As I turned on the light I noticed a note on the mirror.  Your bike was not outside. If you don't know where it is, wake me up. Love, Marshall. I felt my stomach drop instantly and felt as though I was dreaming--was my bike really stolen? When I went back to the bedroom to tell Marshall, I started crying like a baby. He held me close for a few moments and then went outside to search the apartment complex to see if the person who had cut the chain had just left it somewhere. It was nowhere. When he came back he ran into our neighbor who said he had walked out to the gym around 7 PM and didn't see it. That meant it had been taken in broad daylight between 6 and 7:30 PM. I couldn't believe this had happened and I know it probably sounds silly that I was so sad. It's just a bike. Maybe so, but there was a special place in my heart for my powder-blue Giant bike. The super nerdy and super cute ...