bookmark_border21 Years…

…is a long time. Trust me on this.

And a lot of things happened on June 23rd. Titus succeeded his father, Vespasian, as Emperor of Rome. It is also the day that Vespasian died. So cheer for Titus after the funeral, ‘kay?

It is Father’s Day in Nicaragua (Feliz Día del Padre!), Poland (Happy DzieÅ„ Ojca!), and Uganda (Siku ya furaha ya Baba!).

It is June Carter Cash’s birthday. She would have been 82. Couldn’t sing worth shit, bless her heart, but she was a nice lady.

It is St. John’s Eve, a night of music and bonfires. And probably alcohol. It started as a celebration in honor of Celt goddess, Aine, but of course the Catholics had to “Christianize” it and declare it the birthday of John the Baptist.

And it is the day when Precious and I first met at 11am on the corner of 8th and Market in Philadelphia. What was supposed to be a few hours date wound up being fourteen hours. And what was to be a friendship turned out to be a 21 year (and counting) relationship. That’s right, TWENTY ONE YEARS.

Yes, it is a miracle.

Yes, Lorna is up for sainthood.

No, it’s not been easy. There are no perfect relationships. We fight. We argue. We laugh. We make love. She’s my other half and I am hers.

I won’t get into a discussion today of how our 21 year relationship is not a marriage. Nor how our being married would cause anarchy and the downfall of the American way of life. No, I’ll save that for later.