The first time I saw you was at a wedding
and you were stunning.
Not just beautful.
Not just good looking
and not only pretty.
Stunning.
Like meeting a movie star.
A movie star married to one of your favorite cousins.
A movie star married into your favorite branch of your family tree.
A movie star who wasn’t just amazing to look at,
but who smiled and spoke to me
in ways no previous “cousin-in-law” had done up to that point.
You were interesting, down to earth, surprising,
and only speaking to you for a few minutes I sensed a great depth.
Over the years we really haven’t spent much time together
but almost every time we speak there’s some new glimmer
of what sparkles within you, just underneath the surface.
A darkness and a mystery, a gleaming otherness;
seemingly fragile, but that’s likely an inaccurate perception.
Perhaps it’s despair or courage?
Perhaps it’s pain or a haunting melody that only you can hear?
Perhaps it’s all of these things or none of them,
but it is there,
whatever it is,
behind your eyes,
and whatever questions are answered
and asked behind the masks
that you appear to wear…
Those mysteries make you approachable, magical and breathtaking.
Christopher chose well.
Written by Jason Wright
June 4, 2015
For Tina White,
because she requested it.
