I Can Fix That

by Juliana Smith

If I closed my eyes, I could still hear my grandmother playing Hank Williams Jr. and the taste of her homemade sweet tea—which certainly had way more sugar than it needed.

She never lived a luxurious life, her house was an example of that, but her life was rich. Rich with love and passion for the people around her.

Being a chronic people-pleaser wasn’t all bad; you got to be the ray of sunshine in someone’s dark days. Sometimes you were the only sunlight they got to see. I found it’s the ones who are the darkest and need the most light.

Constantly pleasing others left you expecting the same back, even though you never asked for it.

I never had anything worth putting in a frame. But there I was. In a frame on his desk.

“Grant. I would rather live only one day getting to love you than a million years without you in my life.”

He was laced through this house like he was laced through my heart, and I was somehow with him when I was here.

“I love you. I have since I saw you climbing those paint cans, I will till I am old and gray. I love you so damn much.”

It was because God knew he was meant to be mine, and I was his.