The Beautiful Riddle

An early morning walk with my wife.

Melanie woke me at dawn this morning.

Earlier, during the jet lag hours between two and four, we’d both been wide awake, chatting away, pillow-to-pillow in early-vacation good cheer, and she’d had an idea.

She always has this idea when we’re on vacation: “we should go for a walk in the morning.” At 2:45, I couldn’t imagine 5:45 and agreed. At the time, it sounded like a great idea. At the time, this idea of hers always sounds like a great idea.

And now, she was whispering from the foot of the bed, fully dressed, making a please-do-this-like-you-promised face.

*

Somewhere I read that the ones we love have many different radio stations. Some we know before we’re married, some we don’t, some we like, some we don’t, but in marriage when your favorite radio station comes on, you turn it up.

“Get up, Adam,” I told myself. “Your song is playing.”

I rubbed my eyes and swung my feet to the floor.