365 days later

One year ago today, I exchanged vows with the love of my life. While holding a grinning Boston terrier. What more could a man hope for in this world?

I hope David knows what a remarkable man I think he is. There is no one who knows me as deeply as he does. We often read each other’s minds, just walking along. We can have intense conversations. We can be silent together. We’re so fortunate.

We’ve been together for coming up on four years now. It feels like we’ve always been together, and yet like we are still discovering one another.

As I obsessively watched the web feed from a Louisiana television station tonight, gripped with thoughts of the devastation that Hurricane Katrina is beginning to unleash, I wondered what we would do if we were suddenly forced to evacuate – if a hurricane were bearing down on Baltimore. I was heartsick reading that pets are not permitted in the New Orleans shelters – it’s too horrible to think about.

I know David and I would grab Goblin and do whatever we had to do to reach safety. I would hopefully tote my laptop along, as it is the repository of my life’s work so far, but if I had to leave it, too, I would. It’s terrible to contemplate that, with the way the world is going, the fact is that we may very well have to flee someday with only the clothes on our backs, and each other.

This seems to be a grim thought on a day which is an anniversary of a joyous ceremony, but it reaffirms the depth and seriousness of the bond. Sometimes all you have is each other. And a Boston terrier. And with that, you can make it through any dark and terrible night.