Literature - both poetry and prose - and music have been at the center of my life as long as I can remember. The emotion that comes to mind most readily when I think about my childhood is loneliness. I had very few friends, and my family was invested in what I like to think of as the “totally conditional love” approach to relationships. So for me, things that others learned from their family or peers were instead learned from books and songs. Those were my emotional outlets; outside of my family and a few friends I don’t tend to get emotional, but the emotions flow freely for prose or verse. Because of this, I often express my feelings in the context literature and song.

Dr. Sexypants is one of the few people that I can show and feel emotion for and with; when we were dating I listened to this song quite a bit. When we got married, I added it to our playlist, and when I we saw Ben Folds in concert I was able to put my arms around her and feel the love between us.

These lyrics hit me every single time I hear the song. I can feel both the pain and triumph that Ben is describing, and I know what it’s like to love someone in a way and to a degree where words fail to even scratch the surface of the feeling.

The Luckiest

I don't get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns
The stumbles, and falls brought me here

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know that I am
I am, I am the luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you
In a house on the street where you live?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

And in a wide sea of eyes
I see one pair that I recognize
And I know that I am
I am, I am the luckiest

I love you more than I have
Ever found a way to say to you

Next door, there's an old man who lived to his 90's
And one day, passed away in his sleep
And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way
To tell you that I know we belong
That I know that I am
I am, I am the luckiest