Old Loves in the New Year

I come from a long line of extended and wonderful love, where the sound of a familiar voice is enough to obliterate all time and distance.

When the phone rings in the first few moments of the new year,

I pick up knowing that it is my past, present, and always calling to say I love you.

I hear the sound of my mother’s voice wishing me what all mothers wish for their children, then she passes the phone to someone else who loves me and when he asks if I know who it is, I say, “Tío Valentín!” because I could never ever forget that unforgettable voice. I tell him I love him and his voice glitches for a moment before he tells me he loves me as much as he did when I was first born and I know that he means that unbridled love that you have for a baby. As if that weren’t enough love, when he tries to hand the phone back to my mother, he laughs because my cousin who I haven’t seen in far too long, but have continued to love every moment we’ve been apart, grabs the phone from him because she has all kinds of love to send my way as well.

While I’m soaking up all this amazingness, a sound interrupts letting me know that someone else is trying to call, but there is no way that I will cut the current call short. When the call comes to a natural end, I check the message and it’s my brother. My brother who left me for so many years because of his addiction. My brother who is making his way back into my life. My brother who never left my heart. My brother who used to only call me because my mother made him, but now calls me even when I don’t call him back, even though I haven’t programmed his phone number into my phone because I’m afraid to hope, he calls to tell me he loves me, to show me he’s back. I hope he stays.

My new year is so full of old loves. I hope yours is too.