Anticipation...

Well this morning, I'm contemplating what has brought me to this day. I was too filled with excitement to wait for the alarm clock and got up an hour early. It's been a long twenty-three years in some respects and a blink-of-an-eye-and-you'll-miss-it in others.

I want to tell you about gratitude the way I feel it. There's someone in my life who genuinely cares about me in ways that I just don't understand. He recognizes me for who I am and what I can be. He understands when I'm a dork and still gets me, and still he loves me. Don't get me wrong. We have our issues when we're not listening to each other, or exhausted, or feeling needy. But I have the certainty that we will always find a way to work it out. I know that I have a companion, a friend, a love that makes me want to be more. More for him, and more for myself. I don't know if I can ever thank him enough for what he has brought to me, for what he continues to bring to me, for who he has allowed me to become.

There's so much more, but a ceremony awaits in the far-off land of Vermont. "See you at the altar, my love." And for the rest of you, if these twenty-three years are any indication, I can't wait to see the adventure ahead.

And So We Begin Again ...

They have settled in at last, and after adopting the obligatory pet, their beautiful Sophia, who remained with them through the next fifteen years.

Sophia

They began years of bliss setting up house and adjusting to life together. Two smart, strong willed young men, living a new “style” of life. For you see, they had no real role models. Trial and error with lots of adjustments had to be made. Family, friends, a new city (Evansville), and new jobs were added to the mix of the unfamiliar world they had entered. Together they forged ahead. A life with two men in one household, decisions had to be made. How would they live? Who was in charge?  Etc., etc....

For them, they found common ground early on. Like any other couple would, they would often have to remember how much they love each other and always ask themselves how much they were truly giving to the relationship. It turns out this same-sex relationship was like any other relationship. Commitment, honesty, and respect have been a constant through this union from the beginning. Like any other relationship, they have had their ups and downs, but the most important thing is that they persevered through, always remembering the commitment that they made to each other. If one slipped, the other was there to pick them back up. The knowledge of that safety net created a bond for them very early on and has made their connection even more secure, especially for the years that followed.

Oh, I know, it all sounds like something from a novel. But you see, after twenty three years of ups and downs, it has been a great benefit to them both to keep the focus on the good remembering what has made them not only strong individuals, but a strong team as well. Learning from the past, remembering the lessons, this is very important. For these are our lessons that we carry forward, the lessons that we teach from.  For we all are teachers, and we are all students. This we must never forget.Starting out as mere boys and with the help of many friends and family members, they grew into the upstanding men that we know and love today.

Justice Ginsburg to Officiate at Same-Sex Wedding

From the Washington Post - Ginsburg will be first justice to officiate at same-sex wedding

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first Supreme Court member to conduct a same-sex marriage ceremony Saturday when she officiates at the Washington wedding of Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser.

The gala wedding of Kaiser and economist John Roberts at the performing arts center brings together the nation’s highest court and the capital’s high society and will mark a new milepost in the recognition of same-sex unions.

MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS - SAME LOVE feat. MARY LAMBERT

Federal Taxes for Legal Same-Sex Marriages

All Legal Same-Sex Marriages Will Be Recognized for Federal Tax Purposes  From the Press Center of the U.S. Treasury on September 29, 2013, "WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today ruled that same-sex couples, legally married in jurisdictions that recognize their marriages, will be treated as married for federal tax purposes. The ruling applies regardless of whether the couple lives in a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage or a jurisdiction that does not recognize same-sex marriage." ...

MORE DETAILS ARE AVAILABLE THRU THE LINK ABOVE.