Dear Happiness,

First of all, thank you for the lengthy visit. You’re always welcome, and I hope you stay for awhile. In fact, I hope you stay forever.

Second, thank you for being such a presence these past few days and weeks. You’ve come to me in music and in sunshine, in old friends and new ones. You look like the sunflowers that grow in Tuscany, and the music that rolls from the streets of Florence. You’re beautiful, and when I’m with you, I feel beautiful, too. I see you reflecting in my smile when I lift a warm latte to my lips. I feel you when I’m yelling with my friends in Tiger Stadium, and when we walk back to our dorms barefoot after standing for the length of game. I hear you on the phone with my family 1000 miles away in Denver, and in the country music that I blare from the speakers of my little yellow car. You’re somehow always with me.

I miss you sometimes, when I feel lonely and I listen to The Smiths (It’s my own fault, I know). Thank you for walking in on darkness when he loomed over me, I felt so helpless. Thanks for never really leaving me. You’re faithful, and true.

I know you’re probably beaming right now, and trust me I am too. The past few days I know you’ve been holding my hand, hanging your arm loosely around my waist over my coat. You make me feel warm on cold nights, when I can’t stop myself from grinning. I’m filled with you, full of the purity of your words.

So, Happiness, thank you for finally deciding to stick around. I promise you won’t regret it.

All my love,

Brooke-Adrienne