Dear Syd,

Loving you feels like a warm day at the beach, the kind where time stands still and you get lost in the waves. You are a breath of fresh air to my life. You make things feel clearer, like I can finally exhale without holding everything in so tightly. Just knowing you exist in my world makes me feel safe. You feel like the best birthday present I have ever received, because you make me feel safe in a way I didn’t know I needed. I don’t take you for granted. Not the way you make me feel, not the way you brighten even ordinary moments, not the way you have become something I didn’t know I needed but now can’t imagine without. You are something good in my life. Something warm. Something real.