I married Kelley nineteen years ago today. She married me, too, of course. More precisely, we married each other–really: no one officiated.

We spoke our vows to each other; one of the things we promised was to be “strong and brave and fierce” for each other. We read excerpts from the letters we exchanged during the fifteen months we spent separated by the Atlantic ocean in the days before email. Then family and friends stood up one by one and spoke of their hopes for us and our marriage.

It was a beautiful day. We are only part of the way through our beautiful life. It is very, very good.

At some point in the future, it will be possible to marry in the eyes of the law, not just our family and friends. And I promise you: on the day Kelley and I make this legal on a federal level, we will have a party that makes the London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremonies look like a four year-old’s finger-painting party.

Meanwhile, here’s a selection of pictures from the last 24 years. Our hairstyles change but our hearts don’t.

August 1989
September 1989
October 1992
September 1993
Summer 1999
September 2000

March 2007