One morning in April 2019, Katy and Tuhao saw me off to work together for the first time. Tuhao sat quietly on the left of the steps while Katy stood beside him, watching me walk down the path. They were both only three; seeing someone off still felt like something newly learned.
Going to work could hardly be more ordinary, yet they gave that morning a shape worth remembering. A few steps away, I looked back and found the same familiar figures at the gate. The day had barely begun, and I already knew someone would be waiting for me to come home.
Over time, those send-offs and homecomings became part of family life. We learned that a shared life is not made only of milestones. It lives in every departure, every return and the time in which we grow older together.
This is what longer companionship means to us: more ordinary mornings, and more time in which to share them.