Me and Davey J

David's friend Brad, Me and David in our first garden, 1986

Today marks 27 years since David drove in the driveway of the ramshackle farm house I had found for us and revamped in preparation of his arrival. We had met the previous year in Texas, spent 6 months in a deeply passionate courtship before I packed up and left Austin for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which was my mothers recent debilitating stroke.  We missed each other something terrible so he removed the back seat of his army green Gran Torino to hold all his worldly possessions, and drove east to join me in Chapel Hill where we had decided to give co-habitation a shot. 

We are still enjoying life together.  I was 27 years old that year, and I'm 54 now, I've spent half my life with this creative, brilliant, funny, thoughtful, tender man.  This morning as he left for work he called me out to see the resident garter snake, stretched out by the front gate in the sun.  I told him of the handsome box turtle I saw on the driveway when I went for milk first thing this morning. These are the things that have always turned us on, that continue to turn us on. 

This week also marks 16 years in our home, where we spend most of our spare time gardening together, growing food and flowers and seeing what manner of wildlife might happen by.  We've never made this match official, never saw the need, only created legal documents and wills to protect and prove we share our property.  And that has worked out fine for us.

Here we are lately

A little grayer

A little plumper

Still smiling