I met Rick 10 years ago and this was the moment I knew what it was meant to be truly seen and loved for who I am. In the early years of me knowing him, he walked with me through the most strenuous predicaments of my healing journey. These came from a background of difficult Christian ideology, family trauma, sexual abuse, and self-contempt/overwhelming shame. Rick had the capacity to sit with me and listen with an open-embracing spirit and heart. He didn’t turn away from me in my shame or discomfort of my difficult story, but instead he embraced my murkiness. These were the most closed off parts of me I was too ashamed to show anyone else. He saw me for who I was and loved me for being me. Rick continues to prove throughout the more recent years that his presence is safe and secure for me to find refuge and belonging. My relationship with him is both healing and transformative. I can confidently say that today I understand what it means to be loved with no small part because of Rick.