I'm hours early for my flight to Chicago. It's just about 6:30 on a summer Saturday morning & the sun is beginning to peak it's way through the horizon. Early. Only but 4 or 5 people are in sight, & I feel very much at ease. I make my way through baggage claim & security. The airport workers are groggy & tired. The humans around me speak softly & are slow moving. Quiet. I find coffee. I get a large one...black. With a Danish, too, of course. I find a seat by a window, where I will sit for the next two hours, awaiting to board the flight. I have my headphones in, with my coffee sitting beside my feet & a book in hand. I feel content. I put the book down, to daydream about Chicago & Emma... All the things we'll do & the new things we'll see. I sit & ponder how much I've changed this past year. The transformations I have undergone & the personal growth which I have succeeded. I think about the vast decisions I've made, the lessons I've learned, & I revel in the gratitude that I have for it all. Reflection. I long to love, travel & learn. I've met a human that I love very much, & that loves me, too. That's very special. I've gotten the opportunity to venture to new places & explore new surroundings, with her by my side. That's even more special. How wonderful it is, to be in love & to want nothing more than to better one another. To enhance each others wholeness, rather than complete each others halves. How wonderful it is to do life, with the person you love by your side. I love her very much. I think about that for a while. Then my mind wanders to myself & how I've grown. This past year I've learned the importance of doing what will serve me best, rather than what is expected of me. In doing so, I've recognized that I am a powerful human. & any decisions that I make, anything that I do in this life, should be done passionately & with purpose. What serves me & leads me to living my best life is what should always take precedence. This year I quite a job that wasn't fulfilling, even though it meant disappointing some relatives, I changed my major to something that I love, rather than something that I felt I needed to be doing, & I've fallen in love with someone, which just so happens to make me a little gay because she, too, is a woman. & all of that has been transforming & empowering in a myriad of ways. I've learned that my happiness matters. I've also learned what it really feels like to be on your own & I've learned that to love yourself is so important, because sometimes you are your only company. I've learned to be a fighter. I've faced the fear of losing a parent & I've embraced the uncertainty of my brother's well being. I've recognized that my upbringing was less than ideal, & in that I've learned that I deserve to be loved & loved well. I've learned to combat my demons with my mother, & to love her anyways, despite her dysfunctions. & I've learned that though my parents weren't always present, they have taught me the most important life lessons I've come to know: hard work & unconditional love. It's now coming upon the 8 o'clock hour, and more & more people are hustling through the terminal. Business men with suitcases & serious glares, frantic mothers with busy toddlers & full hands, & a few stragglers. I wonder where they are off to... I sit quietly with my large coffee. It's beginning to get cold, but I drink it anyways. My heavy eyes are beginning to lift & my spirits are rising. The grogginess of the early morning is beginning to fade, & the alertness of the travels ahead are sinking in.