I’d like to believe in magic, and a piece of me always will, but when the cards are stacked against someone you love, it’s hard to hope that the wand will mysteriously wave in your favor. Magic is inherently unpredictable, and while humbling and incredible when it strikes, it leaves me helpless for lack of control. So I have to believe in karma too, in the possibility of stacking the deck in my favor. I take solace in knowing that the energy I put into the universe will come back to me in the end, it is empowering to grasp the slightest control in light of the overwhelming futility of it all. And I believe in love. I believe that the connection between people is enough to alter the natural course of evolution. When nothing else triumphs and all else fails, love does prevail. I believe that it can change things, in beautiful intangible ways. I believe in its strength and its potential and its invincibility.

And tonight, when a fire doesn’t cut it and wine won’t ease the edge, I believe in you. When there is an impossible decision to make, a hypothetical situation to bet against, a miracle to gamble on – I bet on you. If anyone, then you…