Cozy hotel rooms and breezy boat tours.

I don’t think about our future as one perfect, shining moment. Most of the time, I picture something much more ordinary than that and actually better, if you think about it. I think about a life that feels full in quiet ways. Work that matters to us. A home that feels safe. Laughter that shows up easily. The kind of happiness that can be loud but is mostly steady and real.

Of course, I also picture some specific things. I picture us finally taking that trip to Lake Como and being very pleased with ourselves for making it happen. I picture two slightly tired, slightly dramatic, but very determined lawyers (trying to be) dual-qualified in Canada and wondering why we chose SUCH a stressful dream but then being proud that we did it anyway. I picture joy, the simple everyday kind, and the bigger moments too. And yes, I picture two children (no comment) who will probably inherit all our best qualities and, unfortunately, some of our nonsense.

I know it won’t all be easy. Life never is. There will be long days, hard nights, difficult seasons, and moments where things feel uncertain. But even when I think about the challenges, I don’t feel afraid in a lasting way. I just feel aware that whatever comes, we will face it together, and that makes it feel possible.

Distance has already taught us patience in ways I didn’t expect. I’m not seeing you till September! It has taught us how to keep choosing each other even when it would be easier to be distracted by everything else. It has shown me that what we have isn’t just about excitement or convenience but it is something steadier than that. Something that can actually last.

So when I say “Lake Como,” I don’t just mean a place on a map or a holiday we want to take. I mean the life we are slowly walking and working towards with work, with family, with joy, with challenges, and with each other in the middle of all of it.

And honestly, that future doesn’t need to be picture perfect. Nothing that you and I have done, is. It just needs to be ours.