day 366, a leap year

Our first gaze…

our first date…

our first kiss, which we thought would be…

the beginning of forever.

But life, and time, got interrupted.

In a single moment, the firsts went from exciting…

to excrutiating.

The first day of third grade without you.

The first wedding anniversary, filled with loneliness instead of laughter.

Eventually the firsts become too many to count.

And that’s what no one realizes—

there will always be a first.

Her first day of pre-k,

losing her first tooth.

Her elementary school graduation.

And then the really big firsts—

their first boyfriend,

their first kiss,

their first children.

And so I continue to continue,

hoping you can see these firsts,

even if we can’t see you.

J.Perillo August 7, 2012