Foreign.
I remember my hands fumbling in 3rd grade when I first held chopsticks, I remember hearing Japanese, riding a bike, holding a camera, and feeling the shape of your lips for the very fist time. Foreign. My hands tracing over unlearned and undiscovered facets. Nothing about the firsts were familiar.
Over time - while I am not fluent with chopsticks, my camera, or Japanese, my hands still tremble, and there is still so much to discover- hearing Japanese is like listening to an old favorite song of mine. My camera is where my comfort zone begins. And your lips. Your lips have a curve that I could recognize over the shape of my own lips. The notch in your left shoulder. The halo mole in the lower left portion of your back. The way your eyes shift when the light changes and the way the shadows hit your face as you sleep beside me.
The familiarity and the comfort brings just as much thrill - with a handful of added peace - as the “firsts” brought me. What an incredible blessing.
