17.

I do not know the feeling of a lover’s embrace.

I do not know the fire that burns from a passionate love.

I do not know long walks on the beach, or candle-lit dinners.

I do not know how it feels to wake up beside my soulmate.

I do not know that kind of love.

But

I know the smell of my mother’s cooking at 5:30 AM so that I will have lunch to take to work.

I know my father’s tired voice as he maintains the roof over my head.

I know the laughter of friends that spans fifteen years.

So tell me, do I not know love?

-J

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