Just a short note … remembering 19 years ago today when I met the man who would forever change, and improve, my life. Yep, April 25, 2012, marks the 19th year that my partner and I have been together. In some ways, it feels like we met yesterday, and in others, it seems like he’s been right by my side forever.

We’ve been through a lot together, as any couple who has been together this long would. Lately, the most compelling challenge we’re facing is getting my partner over his long-term, serious illness. I have faith he will recover fully.

We have learned in all of the years that we have been together that faith, trust, sincerity, honesty, integrity, and financial security are values that we both cherish, and practice each day.

As I rise, I greet my beloved partner with a “good morning, my love!” and he replies, “good morning to you, my sweet.” Throughout the day, I think of ways to make him happy, and he does the same for me. Heck, throughout the day, hardly a moment goes by that I don’t have him on my mind in one way or another.

Man, I am so very lucky to remain in love with my best friend. 19 years… long time, but we fully intend to keep it going for many, many more years to come.

While I have blogged a lot about my partner over the years, I think this tribute explains much about our relationship.

Life is short: cherish your best half!

It seems as if every day presents a new challenge for my partner. His health condition remains difficult, but let me assure you, he is fairing as best as he can. He is working part-time, resting and eating well. However, his medical condition remains fragile, and messes with his head. Literally. He can’t think logically and easily gets overwhelmed, which results in confusion, agitation, and bouts of emotion.

We are in it for the long-haul. I am as committed to him as ever….
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Yesterday, the Governor of the U.S. state where my partner and I live signed legislation that was passed by our state’s General Assembly to make it legal for same-sex couples to marry in a civil procedure, such as by a Justice of the Peace or by a Judge in a county courthouse.

When will my partner and I marry?

Woah… wait a minute…. The negative noodles of nabobbery and hatefulness have a delay tactic in place. An amendment to the legislation that had to be included in order to gain passage makes the law take effect on January 1, 2013, provided the law makes it past a referendum process.

You see, the nabobs of negativity (so aptly named by a former state Governor) inserted an amendment in the legislation that makes the law take effect in January. That’s because they recognize that another law in the state allows “citizens to petition for redress through referendum” which is a long way of saying that negative nabobs will now be circulating a petition to put this law on the ballot for approval during the general election on November 6.

This frosts me — what right does anyone have to put the rights of minorities to a public vote? If they did that, for example when the law was changed to give women and Blacks the right to vote, then probably to this day, neither women nor anyone not of a minority could vote. This is why we have representative government, not government-by-the-whole.

Some of the primary leaders of this referendum petition in our state are Black. It makes me perturbed and angry that one minority group can be so directly and loudly opposed to providing fundamental rights for another minority group.

Really, just how will MY marriage destroy yours or decimate the sanctity of your religious institution?

Marriage is NOT a sacrament. It is a civil matter. The new law that passed in our state was very clear to allow any religious institution or clergy member the option of not participating in same-sex marriages.

That’s fine — I don’t want to be married in a church — especially in any church where it’s two-faced hypocritical members say, “we love you, but we don’t approve of civil recognition of a marriage to the man you love.” (Followed often by much worse, hateful language.)

Well, we are closer than we ever have been. I envision months of patient persuasion among those of us who support civil marriage among same-sex couples. If you can’t vote against the referendum, at least don’t vote for it.

Life is short: keep the faith focused on what’s right and what’s fair.

I rarely talk about politics on this blog. I feel that there is no topic that causes more controversy than politics … well, perhaps organized religion. Anyway, I am absolutely frosted by a two-faced lying jerk who convinced me to support his 2010 election for a first term in our State’s House of Delegates from the district in which my partner and I live.

Yesterday, a vote came up in a joint committee of our House of Delegates on marriage equality. How did this guy vote?

He “passed.” That is a coward’s way of not taking a position. No vote yes or no. He “passed.”

That jerk looked at me in my face when he was running for office and promised that he would vote for marriage equality. He gave me a convincing argument why he thought it was important and “the right thing to do.” He told me directly how important he thought it was for my partner and me to be able to marry.

However, last year when a bill to legalize same-sex marriage came up in our state’s legislature, he voted “no.” It came up again this year, and once again, he tucked his yellow tail between his legs and “passed.”

I have not been engaging in politics since the 2010 state election cycle because I got so “burned” and “burned out” in 2010 that I had enough, and promised myself not to get involved again. But come 2014 when state positions are up for election again, I do what I can to make sure this jerk’s term is OVER by informing hundreds of voters in this district that I know why they should not vote to re-elect him, and suggest an alternate candidate who has to be better.

I hate liars and hypocrites. Fortunately, most of the elected officials in local and state office are honest, hard-working, thoughtful people. We may not agree on everything, but at least when they tell me where they stand, they don’t do something else like vote the opposite in a place where it counts.

So, S.A., you’re history. I hope you slunk away under the rock from which you crawled and never darken this district again!

Enjoy “our song” with us.

We heard JMM sing this tune (see video below) for us just a couple months after we met, and soon after the song was introduced. We were at Wolf Trap Farm Park, a national park music venue in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, where he performed in June, 1993.

There we were, right in front, and he sang with such a soulful, melodic voice. My partner and I held each other, danced (a little bit) and vowed that whenever we marry, legally, this song will be played.

Share our joy today, our love, with a spirit of thanksgiving for the man who makes me whole.