You ever meet someone who just feels like sunshine?
Not in a cheesy "he lights up the room" way. I mean in a real, molecular level kind of way. Like, if joy were a scent, they'd smell like warm cookies and coconut oil. Like they could walk into your bad mood and flip all the switches on without even trying.
That's Jamie.
My human equivalent of a Spotify summer playlist.
I met Jamie in the most mundane way. I was standing in line at the farmer's market, arguing with myself over whether I should buy blueberries or save money like an adult.
He was in front of me, wearing a yellow shirt that literally had tiny smiling suns on it. His hair looked like it had never known stress. His energy? Bubbly... Ridiculously bubbly. He turned to me and said, "These blueberries sounds like they are whispering your name. You'd be committing emotional fruit betrayal if you walk past them."
I snorted out loud like an actual unattractive, hiccup-snort situation. I didn't see that coming.
He grinned like he had just won the lottery, pointed at my face and said, "See? That's the kind of laugh I like to cause. Full diaphragm and unapologetic."
Long story short, I got the blueberries and from that moment on, it was game over.
Not in a dramatic, cinematic, slow-motion kind of way it usually is in the movies Just quietly, delightfully, and joyfully over.
Because Jamie wasn't the grand gesture type. He was the little things kind. The little things I never thought would one day matter to me.
He remembered the name of my cat after hearing it once. He sent me memes before I even had a chance to say I was in a bad mood. He once showed up with cake on a Tuesday that literally said "because you survived Monday and that deserves frosting."
One day, I was sitting by the window just looking out at the rising sun. He came up to me, handed me a cup of tea and said, "I don't know what you're carrying today, but let's make this cup the heaviest thing in your hand for now."
Butterflies. In full-blown formation settled in the pit of my stomach... I think one even dabbed.
We never made big plans, Jamie and I. We made small regular ones. The let's-grab-coffee and let's-take-a-walk ones. But somehow... they all felt like holidays.
And being around him? It made me believe that the world could be soft.
He'd dance while cooking and narrate what he was doing in a fake British accent. He'd sing to my plants and named them all after Marvel characters. ("Wanda is wilting again—she's such a drama queen.")
But it wasn't just about how funny he was.
It was how kind.
How he listened like my words were poetry.
How he said "I'm proud of you" for things most people wouldn't even notice, like finally making that tough call I'd been procrastinating or getting through a tough day without crying in public.
One morning, I told him I didn't feel pretty. My skin was breaking out. I hadn't slept. I looked like a raccoon in debt. Menstrual Cramps be praised.
He looked at me, tilted his head and said, "Darling, beauty is not a mood. It's a fact. And you, my dear, are evidence."
Again. Full-blown butterfly rave in my stomach.
And before you ask... No, we didn't fall madly in love overnight. We didn't even kiss for months. We just... existed in the same happy bubble. Floating, Joyful, and effortless.
Until one afternoon, while watching clouds on a picnic blanket, he said:
"You make life taste sweeter."
I looked at him, all sunflower-shirt and grass-stained jeans, and just smiled.
Because some people don't arrive like thunder. They arrive like spring.
Quietly, and softly. But they just change everything.
And honestly? I think that's the best kind of love.
The kind that doesn't shout, "Look at me!" But whispers, "I see you."
Fast forward to now, writing this,
Here's what I've learned:
Love doesn't always come wrapped in fireworks and chaos. Sometimes, it's a softly brewed tea. A silly joke. A perfectly sliced mango on a hot day, it's slow dancing in the kitchen in your pajamas... It's safety. And giddiness at once.
It's laughing at dumb puns and holding hands like it's your job. It's someone who looks at you like you're made of galaxies, even when you've got toothpaste on your chin and socks that don't match.
Sometimes love is loud.
But sometimes, it's just the quiet certainty that someone is choosing you, in little ways, every single day.
So, if you've found someone who makes you giggle at 7:00 a.m. before your coffee, hold onto them.
If you are someone like that sunshine in human form, please keep shining because you may be changing someone's life, one butterfly at a time. Besides...
This world needs your light.
And for the rest of us? Let's be softer, kinder and sappier. Let's send random love notes to our lovers and compliment strangers' shoes. Let's laugh harder, hug longer and dance sillier.
Because joy is not a luxury.
It's essential.
Final words?
Go where the laughter lives.
Say the sweet thing.
Be the sweet thing.
Buy the damn blueberries.
Because life's too short not to giggle until you snort.
And love, real, soft, butterfly-in-your-belly love deserves a front seat in your story.