“El? I don’t know if you can hear this, but if you can, I want you to know that I’m here. Okay? I’m right here. And I love you. El, do you hear me? I love you. I’m sorry I don’t say it more. It’s not because I’m scared of you, I’m not. I’ve never felt that way. Never. But I am scared that one day you’ll realize you don’t need me anymore. And I thought that if I said how I felt, it would somehow make that day hurt more. But the truth is, El, I don’t know how to live without you. I feel like my life started that day we found you in the woods. You were wearing that yellow Benny’s Burgers t-shirt. And it was so big it almost swallowed you whole. And I knew right then and there, in that moment, that I loved you. And I’ve loved you every day since.”