Rain

Yesterday, it rained for the first time this year. It wasn't snow or sleet or freezing rain. It was water falling from the sky. Drops, sticking to hair, clothing; soaking through everything and leaving puddles on the sidewalk.

Last year it didn't rain for the first time until sometime in February maybe, or more likely even March. Because I remember that day vividly. I love the rain, and when we started going out, it was promised to me that the first time it rained that year, I would be kissed in the rain. So I was. And it wasn't perfect, it wasn't ideal, and it wasn't as romantic as one would hope. But it was human. The uncertainty, the stumble, the confusion is what made it special.

In the end, it didn't turn out the way I had hoped, but it set the stage for what was to come. Because later that month, it was probably no more than 40 degrees outside, and it was pouring rain. Only this time, it was really pouring. And that time it was almost perfect. In nothing more than a t-shirt and jeans, two layers of jackets forgotten, soaked through, and tossed aside...there I was, in an ideal embrace, kissing in the pouring rain.

The relationship may not be special to me anymore, but that moment is. Even though I may not feel those emotions right now, I know that I felt them then, and that is what made it so special. Along with many things, that memory is now bittersweet. Bitter because of the mistakes I made, and sweet because of what it meant then.

But ultimately, that is why I love rain so much. It has the power to wash over the body, cleanse the mind, and freshen up the soul. It reminds of simplicity and the power of nature. It makes us embrace the world around us, and if we let it, it can take us to places we could have never imagined.