Married for thirty-eight wonderful years.

My left arm fits across your shoulder as we lie in bed each night.
I have grown an old man’s tummy, and there is a place for it up against the small of your back.
You sleep so peacefully, my body at your side, my ticking heart a comfort to your dreams.
We married young, but I had looked for you for years.
Life had worked on me to form a serious demeanor, and I searched in earnest for you.
Despite my youth, I somehow knew-everything else depended on this choice.
 
I will claim one great strength-a sense for what is beautiful and permanent.
You are beautiful, and will always be beautiful-your beauty is permanent, and my eye will never cease to see that beauty.
There was a day I knew that I must ask-a day that you said yes-and I have walked in beauty from that day.
And it was true, as I knew it must be. Everything depended on that choice.