Love, quietly

For the One Who Stirred While I Slept

You didn’t know whether to get up.

She was crying.

I was still, but unraveling.

And you lay there — torn between letting me sleep and wondering if stepping in might somehow help.

You didn’t know if I wanted help.

You didn’t know if I’d snap, or cry, or thank you.

You just knew I was tired —

the kind of tired that sits deep in your bones,

the kind you can’t sleep off.

And still, you stirred.

Not to fix.

Not to rescue.

But to show me I wasn’t alone in it.

You didn’t want to overstep.

You didn’t want to take something I hadn’t asked you to hold.

But you looked over,

saw the weight I was carrying,

and thought — maybe I can help carry this, even just for a moment.

And maybe that’s what love really is:

Not having the answers,

but showing up anyway.

Not waiting to be asked,

just wanting to be there — even in the dark, even when it’s messy.

You didn’t fix it.

You didn’t need to.

You just moved, gently, quietly —

and in that small act,

you gave me something I didn’t even know I needed:

A reminder that I’m not doing this alone.

That when the storm rises,

there’s someone next to me —

watching, reaching, willing.

So thank you.

For waking.

For noticing.

For loving me with that kind of tenderness —

the kind that doesn’t shout,

but still says everything.

I saw it.

I felt it.

And I love you for it.