Happiness

 I have always admired you and pray for your happiness. With love, Your friend—

Letter, February 14, 2014

Why did I feel like crying? (Hint: It was not for being admired.)

You look happy. I always prayed for your happiness.

Email, July 4, 2019

 

Happiness.

Why was I touched? Why are others touched when I tell them what my friend said?

Praying for my basic needs seems reasonable. Why does praying for my happiness seem extravagant—as if someone handed me the deed to my favorite beach house on Emerald Isle?

I met my friend in fifth grade and our lives were intertwined until I moved to a distant city when I was twenty-one. Many times, I was unhappy. I never said I was. I only shared a bit. However, my friend never forgot. That fact makes her words more special.

Recently, I told another friend this story, and then, we wished each other happiness as we parted.