Un abrazo zurück (A hug back) 

I once found an old photograph that was hiding in my heart 

even today I still look at the two hugging people smiling back at me 

their happiness is drawing me deeper and deeper into the moment of this picture 

I like to imagine what the two people told each right before the picture was taken 

maybe they were rushing to get into the picture frame on time 

maybe they were telling each other I love you 

maybe they were talking about the future

or maybe they weren’t talking at all 

they didn’t have to 

their smiles were big enough that one would have found them on google map 

their eyes sparkled bright enough that the sky did not need any stars to shine at night 

their hands touched as if they were holding the universe together 

A photograph never changes but the memory of it does

Time plays its tricks on us 

manipulates the present only to make us remember the past less 

and maybe it is better this way 

maybe it hurts less to be reminded of the way things used to be 

as we all tuck in our photographs at night 

waiting for the next day to start 

only to one day look back at them and let the memories live again for a few minutes 

maybe some things are meant to last forever 

like the two people hugging in the photograph 

it was not just a hug 

but instead the hug made space for something more 

reminding me of the way the sun sets after it gets dark outside

only to find its way up again in the morning 

the way certainty finds its way between their uncertainty 

the way dreams were not just dreams 

but began to dance in their shadows 

It was a hug that reminded me of childhood memories 

it reminded me of the way hope has found its way back to life and crawled under the pillow 

only to someday be found by you 

the way hands can hold other hands 

and place trust in the open spaces between the fingers 

because aren’t we all hoping to be understood by someone? 

maybe it is just a picture I am looking at 

but to me it is so much more 

it reminds me of the way I have found myself in another person 

the way hope has given me strength as my birthday present 

reminding me that one day everything will be okay 

And as I am staring into the waves 

holding my photograph in my hands 

I wish that someday I could find that person in the picture again 

and as we hold hands and happily smile at each other 

I give him un abrazo zurück 

and I know I no longer have to look back at the photograph 

because what I longed for is already standing right next to me.