It's Micah's last night in Michigan. He comes down to the beach at sunset, fresh drinks in hand for us; the lake is still, the sky is vibrant, everything is perfect.
"Hey - I found this lantern upstairs. We were going to set it off at the elopement party, remember? Let's do it now!"
"Yes! It's perfect. Let's make a wish, too. It's our love lantern."
We make a wish about him finding a fulfilling job, and us living happily ever after. The air is heavy with emotion.
"Do you want to come out onto the dock and light it with me? We could set it off together."
"NO. I'm going to take pictures. Look at the sunset! You'll be all silhouetted – it'll look so rad. This is a blog post for sure."
"Okay..."
I snap photos with my phone, one after another, as the lantern slowly fills with warm air and starts floating... Micah lets go, it's lifting!, our wish is floating up towar - - - oh. Ohhhhh.
Nope. Our wish is not flying. Our wish is drowning. OUR LOVE IS DROWNING.
I haven't laughed so hard all year.
"...I think I got a few shots of it floating up... I could just not show anything after that. No one has to know!"
"...That was our love lantern..."
"Well, put your fist in the air. This is a whole different blog post now."