Seventeen Years

It is our 17th Anniversary!

Seventeen years
of joy and laughter.
So much laughter:
silly jokes and plays on words,
giggling over puppy antics
and ourselves.

Seventeen years
of knowing clear through
that you love me;
that I'm able to trust
in this
if nothing else.

Seventeen years
of being able to love the man
I'd loved since 1987
and know that it is okay
to do so.
And knowing he knows it too.

Seventeen years
of feeling safe and protected,
of being a part of an 'us.'
Years of being a branch of the stick
that started as a joke and morphed into

Seventeen years
of being happily stuck!
Know I love you
today and always. And know how
much you are loved
and appreciated!