Dear Readers,
I love penguins. Especially these ones. The ones in my parade.
I wish I could tell you some meaningful story or reason for that love. Something compelling. Something you might make a movie out of.
I can’t.
But if I were to tell a story, I imagine it would be something like this:
I love penguins because they have a sense of community that I’ve never really experienced. I love them because the males protect their eggs and keep their youngest safe. I love them because they stay together.
They huddle together and take turns at being on the very outside where it’s way too cold knowing that eventually they’ll get to be in the warm middle for a while.
The sky gets dark. The winds pick up. It gets cold, too cold. Still, they wait.
Did I mention that they stick around and protect their eggs?
I know I did but I thought I should repeat it for dramatic effect.
They stick around and wait for their mates to come back. They seem to love each other and their families. They definitely love their partners. Enough to stand in the freezing cold and wait for them to come back.
Even when it’s dark. Too dark. The-sun-went-away-and-is-never-coming-back dark.
My reality?
I’m probably not much of a penguin myself.
I haven’t had many friends over the years and I’m not particularly close to much of my family.
I’m not close to my neighbors. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to keep them warm. I certainly won’t ask them for help.
We’re just not that close. I’m kind of awkward, they’re kind of weird.
I’ve been making new friends in recent years and that’s great. I still don’t think I could ask them to help me move (if I were moving). Maybe I could, I really just don’t know the etiquette for these things.
I have kids. Plural. More than one, less than a million.
And if we’re being honest with each other, I’ve been there for them every day of their lives.
I do my best to keep them warm and safe. I give them what they need and try to give them everything they want.
No regurgitating chewed up fish, though, that’s too much penguin.
I have a partner, a real partner in all things. Just one. I only need one. I only want the one.
We get mad sometimes and the sun shines a little less bright. There are problems but, you know? We always find each other.
It’s never too cold. It’s never too dark. Because we have each other.
Maybe, just maybe, I’m more penguin than I thought because I love the people around me and I wouldn’t abandon them to the frozen wasteland.
I’ll keep them warm. I’ll keep them safe. They do the same for me.
I love penguins, especially the ones here by my side every day. The ones in my penguin parade.
Thanks for stopping by,
JL
Art by JL 
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