Magical realism.

To prop ourselves up occasionally, to inspire our own waning creativity, or simply to spend some time together, Lisa and I used to take a long walk to one or two Ten Thousand Villages stores around Boston.

I usually opted for earrings or scarves or artwork, but on this particular day, now two years ago, this mug caught my eye and I couldn't let it go. When I got to the counter, Lisa asked where the other one was. The other one? My roommate didn't even drink coffee and why would I need two? She explained that if I bought one, I was essentially admitting to the universe that I was okay having coffee alone each morning, with being alone. She bought the other one for me.

A week later, I met J.

Is every small, one-off occurrence in my life magically real? Probably not, but on this morning, after having come back to Ohio two days ago and after having already found myself a little grumpy and a little sleepless, I thought maybe this mug would help to ease the 500mi ache.