A Date to Remember

Today is one of the key dates of my life. Sure, it's St Patrick's Day and I proudly wear buttons reading, "Kiss me. I'm Irish." But that is not what makes today so special.

This is the day that I began my life's adventure with the great love of my life. At the age of 60 - and 29 years after it all happened - I suppose I shouldn't be too worried about what anybody thinks. But even now I am aware that our parents, Norm and Red and Peg, read this thing. So let me just say it is the anniversary of our first - er - um - date.

From that memorable evening began a long, long run of incredibly good things in my life. Neither of us could have guessed how much fun the adventure would be. Hey, with my track record, neither of us could have guessed we would still be together a week later.

I believe we went to Burger King on that memorable evening. I am pretty sure that my subconscious mind was responding to their slogan, "Have it your way." Or perhaps I just needed to find out if this woman I was attracted to had the right stuff - a genuine love of Whoppers. She passed the test.

LK noted yesterday that, for better or worst, she had changed me in the quarter of a century-plus that we have been together. She thinks I used to do lots more intellectual stuff like read Updyke novels and watch foreign films. Now I read the MagnetoBoldToo and Ricky Gervais blogs and watch Groomer Has It.

What she doesn't realize is that I was already there by the time we met. Besides that, I don't know how she could think she's been the reason for the slow decline of DK's civilisation, since she has always been and still remains a voracious consumer of all sorts of writing. I pretty much am not.

Sure, we've both changed each other in lots of ways. I no longer wear green cardigans with pink shirts. She swears like a sailor. She developed into one of the country's top editors. I retired early. Little things like that.

But the fact is that we have had an amazing life together, going from one great adventure to another. And none of it would have been possible without loving and supporting one another. And always laughing lots in the process. And it all began on March 17.

So here's to a great date in our life, dear. Or, as we like to call it, Happy Forniversary.