As one realizes that one is a dream figure in another person's dream - that, you see, is self awareness.

She and I first met at a party at her apartment. We hit it off, opened up, shared secrets, and talked about everything. For hours we linked our stories, finding similarities in each other's history, finding meaning. The party waned on around us, growing louder, so we hid away together in a distant room. The lights off, the room dark, we sat silhouetted by the beams cast by the moon, beneath a window. We talked through the deepest hours of the night. Dreams, goals, philosophies, plans, travels... our existence, our creation, our meaning, our joy, our love. The dawn found us curled up, laying hidden from the suns breach against the wall under the window, asleep - but still together.

That experience - connecting with a stranger on the deepest of emotional and social levels, seeking and creating bonds not found in your daily life, breaking barriers of shyness, nervousness, and fear - is one of life's rare and wonderful treasures.

When you're married, dear, you'll never experience it again - that bond that we shared, that magic we created that night. It's the price you pay for your everlasting love. It's a small one, but I hope it stings a little... if not today, then one day, in your future, I hope it sets in. You'll be lying in bed, distant in thought, next to your better half, and you'll recall that night and it'll dawn on you and you'll think, I lived but only once...