You Are My Solace

I wish I could bottle you up, put you in my pocket or even encapsulate you in glass and wear you as a watch...

I wish I could turn you into a real-life Woody from Toy Story and just pull your string...

I'd pull that string any time the world got cruel or cold... wait for an inevitable sarcastic slur and perhaps laugh at a relished memory...

I'd be able to make it through the day so much better opposed to currently having to try and make it on difficult days when I don't have the ability of pulling your string...

The bottom line is that life is hard and we all need an escape. A place to go where we can hide from the perils of this life, even just for a little while. A place to recharge and just turn our minds off.

For some, that escape could be a garden, the gym, or even a fort you built for your cat. For me, however, it's my man.

We can be anywhere, too. Doing anything or absolutely nothing. Heck, most of the time it's just movies and football!

But when I'm with him, regardless of what we're doing, I'm able to completely escape and forget my troubles.

My anorexic bank account.

My insufferable coworkers.

My rent that's past due.

Whatever the case may be, I'm able to completely separate myself. I mean, how often can you say that? How often can you completely separate yourself from your stress?

When I'm not with him, my stress is always with me. Even when I'm trying to relax by myself, my mind still goes crazy with thoughts that I wish I could escape from.

But when I'm here. Even just in the vicinity of the subject of my escape, I'm good. Stress free. Content. At most, a little anxious because I know I'll eventually have to go home, but other than that, I'm totally good.

This goofball of mine knows exactly how to make me relax. I honestly don't know how he does it. His sarcastic remarks, his crazy dog, his ability to shamelessly be himself. All of the above maybe??

I'll tell ya, I'm most relaxed when I have some part of his person on me. Not to sound dirty, but I'm most content when I'm touching him. Whether that's rubbing his feet, scratching his legs, or running my nails through his hair- I simply love the contact. (Believe me, he loves it, too.)

After a long week, he's what I always look forward to. I hope that never changes. He fills me when I'm feeling hollow and he lifts me when I'm down.

Whether your escape is a fellow human like mine or something of tangible affect, I hope you have something because we all need one.

Here's the thing about escapes, though: They never last. Eventually, they must come to an end. It's like that saying, "All good things..." Well, you know the rest.

There hasn't been a single time that I've been with my guy where I haven't stopped and said to myself, 'It's never long enough.' Because it isn't.

Whether it's in the car after dinner with my hand in his or together on the couch with my head on his chest, that phrase always finds it's way into my consciousness: 'It's never long enough.'

Because it's never long enough, it's up to us to make our escapes last. Cherish those moments. Save them for a rainy day!

Because I can't turn my guy into a Woody doll and pull his string whenever I feel like, I create memories that I can look back on instead in the form of pictures and videos. And I got some good ones.

I couldn't ask for a better escape. Who knows? Maybe in ten years, I'll get my Woody equivalent!