I am not a performer. I used to be, I always used to perform, make, say, think as a calculated serious person** at least that's how I'd like to portray myself outwardly, but choosing to love someone tears down the exterior walls we think we need day to day. Maggie has a playfulness-- a sneakiness if I'm allowed to say, that feels like love to me. Baking just for fun, hiding behind doors, coming up with pranks on her parents, even playing with her students feels like an extension of her love. Not all of us know how to do these things so freely, but experiencing Maggie's love as much as I have gives me hope about what kind of life we can share with others. ** Maggie and I are famously and openly in dispute about who is responsible for our love story. Her claim: She double texts me. My claim: After being rebuffed, I made a second effort on a well known dating application, and later drove 103 miles one way to the airport to assure my interest in her in the middle of the night. We may never know, and I'm good with it.