Happy Anniversary, John

11/2/09 Shakespeare Garden Gazebo, Huntington Gardens

About my husband, my long-sought and happily-found partner in life:

I'm sure of his love and he's sure of mine. We trust and respect each other. We support each other's individuality, work and ideals. We have separate goals and mutual goals, and in the short time we've been together we've come a long way toward achieving them--together.

Sometimes I wish I'd met him sooner, but it wouldn't have worked. By my forties I was frustrated by the mate search and ready to give up. When I found John I realized why it had taken so long: I had to be prepared to handle all that certainty and trust. I had to be ready to support and be supported before I could marry the unusual, brilliant, generous, handsome man I'd pictured.

Plus, now my inner dork has someone to hang out with.

We'd been dating for about six months when we went to the Huntington for John's birthday. Neither of us had been there before. I'd say we fell in love then but that would be too tidy. No, we were already in love. The purchase that day of our dual membership was simply our first mutual financial transaction of import, an investment in arts and letters, and in ourselves. It was a declaration, in a way, of who we already were and wanted to become, together.
7/27/00 Shakespeare Garden Gazebo, Huntington Gardens