After this many years, the when and where
And even the what have become a bit blurry,
But the why is never a question. Love is, after all,
Like that, year after year. The number of years is
Both scary and reassuring, doesn’t seem possible.
We have been places, done things, have watched
People come and go. Things change, and yet here
We are, something that doesn’t ever change in
Any important way. We know each other, the way
We think, the things we value, the things that can
Frighten us, and the things that make us who we are.
We still call just to say hello, to hear each other
Say the things we are used to saying, even the way
We say them is the same, reassuring and essential.
We wait for each other, anticipate arrivals and still
Dread departures. We have seen beginnings and
Endings, but know that being we, being together
Makes all this worth it, these forty-five years.

-- J. K. Durick