Sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am…the eight years I’ve shared with Geoffrey — thus far! — have been the happiest, healthiest, and most exquisite of my life. When I was very young, I wished for a true friend of the heart. As a teenager, I prayed for a soulmate. As I grew up, I hoped to find an equal partner with whom to share my life. In the loneliest of times, I ached for arms in which to find solace. In the most joyous of times, I yearned for a love to share my joy.

For thirty years, I learned and loved and laughed and cried…sometimes with a lover, but mostly alone. Then, in the summer of 1999 — against all our intentions! — Geoffrey and I fell in love. And all those things that I had hoped and dreamed and wished for, I found with him.

We spoke these vows at our handfasting:

You cannot possess me, for I belong to myself. But while we both wish it, I give you that which is mine to give. You cannot command me, for I am a free person. But I shall serve you in those ways you require, and the honeycomb will taste sweeter coming from my hand. I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night, and the eyes into which I smile in the morning. I pledge to you the first bite of my meat, and the first drink from my cup. I pledge to you my living and my dying, each equally in your care. I shall be a shield for your back and you for mine. I shall not slander you, nor you me. I shall honor you above all others, and when we quarrel, we shall do so in private, and tell no strangers of our grievances. This is my sacred vow to you. This is the joining of equals.

When he calls my cell phone, the ringtone always makes me smile, because it’s so very true…

You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light, and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I’m ashamed
There’s not anything to which you can’t relate
And you’re still here

Every day, he tells me he loves me. Every day, he tells me he’s keeping me. Every day, I am awed by his love.