Samantha asks Darrin,
"Are you happy?"
Darrin says,
"I have a beautiful wife,
a beautiful daughter,
a nice home, a great job…
Yes, I am happy."
Darrin believes Sam loves him.
But is he happy because Sam loves him
or because he loves Sam?
Earlier, he was stressed—
a demand from work,
pressure from his job.
So, does his job make him happy?
Or does his job only make him happy
because of the love of Sam,
his love for Sam,
and his love for Tabitha?
But Darrin doesn’t need Tabitha
to love him.
She is too young
to love in a way he would notice.
They say you shouldn’t need a relationship
to be happy.
They say you must first love yourself.
That you must already be happy.
That no relationship
can give you
what you don’t already have.
If that’s true,
then would Darrin still be happy
without Sam?
Would Sam still be happy
without Darrin?
Could they lose each other
and be just as fulfilled?
Darrin was happy before he met Sam.
But this happiness is different.
This happiness is more.
Darrin cannot say
that life would be just as good
without their love.
Would Sam say the same?
If they lost each other,
wouldn’t they grieve?
Wouldn’t they ache?
Wouldn’t they know, undeniably,
that what they had
was greater
than what they were alone?
Since Darrin loves Sam,
and since Darrin believes
that Sam loves him,
and since Sam believes
that Darrin loves her,
then neither must have needed
to be in a relationship to be happy.
And yet—
if they lost their love,
would they be happy?
Wouldn’t that happiness—
the happiness they were told
had to exist independently—
collapse under grief?
Then was it ever separate at all?
What is the meaning
of Sam’s love for Darrin?
What is the meaning
of Darrin’s love for Sam?
What is the meaning of each’s love
for themselves?
What is the meaning of happiness?
What is the meaning of life?