Sweet Nephew

Me: How does it feel to be 6? Is it feel different from being 5?
Alex: Yes.
Me: How is it different?
Alex: The way I feel.
Me: The way you feel...
Alex: Yes. Every step I take forward feel a little different.

Celebrating Two Years in Paradise

Our first kiss was illegal. On February 14th in a Muslim country at night after a Hindi movie and fresh juice, Peep made the bold and scary move. Two years later we celebrated that brave decision by flying to one of most beautiful and opulent islands in Panama: Isla Contadora.

I took these pictures of the archipelago from the plane. They describe it better than I can.

We stayed at the Perla Real Inn, run by a sweet Italian and frequented by some other couples, all of whom were over 50.

We heard them talking about how they never took vacations or traveled until now: stories about hard work and mortgages and kids to raise. And there we were, the young and in love 20 somethings who'd been all over the world, usually self-employed with no limits on what we can do or achieve.

We have this life because we don't imagine it any other way. We help each other and feed each other's dreams. I just felt so lucky and proud sitting at that table with all of these people decades older than me, that I am not waiting for anything to live the life of my dreams. And from that paradise island, it was so obvious that the stories of 20 years of hard work at jobs they don't believe in was a prison they built for themselves: none of it was actually necessary.

So here's to me and here's to Peep! We celebrate with the paradise that we create and the paradise in which we live.