Beyond Words

Terry always had this way of catching me off guard with words. His mind seemed to collect phrases the way trees collect morning light. Quietly. Patiently. And then all at once, he would shine something brilliant back at me.

He never called me "Shortie". That would have been too easy for him. Instead, he sat there one morning with that familiar glint in his eyes and said I was “Altitude Challenged”. He said it with such triumph you would think he had solved a great scientific mystery. I stared at him. He grinned. And somehow his ridiculous phrasing made the day feel lighter, like gravity itself loosened its grip for a moment.

He did things like that. Turned ordinary moments into small celebrations. A comment in the kitchen. A joke at the store. A one-liner he tossed into conversation just to see me smile. His humor was soft around the edges. Never sharp. Never meant to impress. Just meant to connect.

And he often surprised me with tenderness tucked inside those playful lines. I remember telling him that married couples sometimes grow less affectionate over the years. Love shifts its shape. Life gets busy. People drift without meaning to. I said, “You may one day love me less.”

He didn’t even let the notion settle. He just looked at me with that calm certainty he carried so naturally, and said, "I am far too busy loving you more to ever love you less."

I felt the truth of it, steady as a tide.

That was Terry. Clever. Kind. A little mischievous. He could fold affection into humor the way wind folds itself into the branches of a tree. You don’t always see it happening, but you feel it all the same.

Even now, when I think of him, I hear his voice at the edges of my thoughts, light and teasing. I feel that familiar warmth settle in. His words still travel with me, like sunlight held in leaves long after the morning has passed.

And I’m grateful.

So grateful.

Because love spoken with a smile stays with you. It grows. It keeps finding new ways to lift your heart, no matter how many seasons come and go.