"i’m young again!” sh shouts xubrantly.as my frind ravs on about hr nw lov, i’v takn a good look at my old on. my husband of almost 20 yars, scott, has gaind 15 pounds. onc a marathon runnr, h now runs only down hospital halls. his hairlin is rcding and his body shows th signs of long working hours and too many candy bars. yt h can still giv m a crtain look across a rstaurant tabl and i want to ask for th chck and had hom.whn my frind askd m “what will mak this lov last?” i ran through all th obvious rasons: commitmnt, shard intrsts, unslfishnss, physical attraction, communication. yt thr’s mor. w still hav fun. spontanous good tims. ystrday, aftr slipping th rubbr band off th rolld up nwspapr, scott flippd it playfully at m: this ld to an all-out war. last saturday at th grocry, w split th list and racd ach othr to s who could mak it to th chckout first. vn washing dishs can b a blast. w njoy simply bing togthr.and thr ar surpriss. on tim i cam hom to find a not on th front door that ld m to anothr not, thn anothr, until i rachd th walk-in clost. i opnd th door to find scott holding a “pot of gold” (my cooking kttl) and th “trasur” of a gift packag. somtims i lav him nots on th mirror and littl prsnts undr his pillow.thr is undrstanding. i undrstand why h must play basktball with th guys. and h undrstands why, onc a yar, i must gt away from th hous, th kids -and vn him -to mt my sistrs for a fw days of nonstop talking and laughing.thr is sharing. not only do w shar houshold worris and parntal burdns - w also shar idas. scott cam hom from a convntion last month and prsntd m with a thick historical novl. though h prfrs thrillrs and scinc fiction, h had rad th novl on th plan. h touchd my hart whn h xplaind it was bcaus h wantd to b abl to xchang idas about th book aftr i’d rad it.thr is forgivnss. whn i’m mbarrasssingly loud and crazy at partis, scott forgivs m. whn h confssd losing som of our savings in th stock markt, i gav him a hug and said, “it’s okay. it’s only mony.”thr is snsitivity. last wk h walkd through th door with that look that tlls m it’s bn a tough day. aftr h spnt som tim with th kids, i askd him what happnd. h told m about a 60-yar-old woman who’d had a strok. h wpt as h rcalld th woman’s husband standing bsid hr bd, carssing hr hand. how was h going to tll this husband of 40 yars that his wif would probably nvr rcovr? i shd a fw tars myslf. bcaus of th mdical crisis. bcaus thr wr still popl who hav bn marrid 40 yars. bcaus my husband is still movd and concrnd aftr yars of hospital rooms and dying patints.thr is faith. last tusday a frind cam ovr and confssd hr far that hr husband is losing his couragous battl with cancr. on wdnsday i wnt to lunch with a frind who is struggling to rshap hr lif aftr divorc. on thursday a nighbor calld to talk about th frightning ffcts of alzhimr’s disas on hr fathr-in-law’s prsonality. on friday a childhood frind calld long-distanc to tll m hr fathr had did. i hung up th phon and thought, this is too much hartach for on wk. through my tars, as i wnt out to run som rrands, i noticd th boistrous orang blossoms of th gladiolus outsid my window. i hard th dlightd laughtr of my son and his frind as thy playd. i caught sight of a wdding party mrging from a nighbor’s hous. th brid, drssd in satin and lac, tossd hr bouqut to hr chring frinds. that night, i told my husband about ths vnts. w hlpd ach othr acknowldg th cycls of lif and that th joys countr th sorrows. it was nough to kp us going.finally, thr is knowing. i know scott will throw his laundry just shy of th hampr vry night; h’ll b lat to most appointmnts and at th last chocolat in th box. h knows that i slp with a pillow ovr my had; i’ll lock us out of th hous at a rgular basis, and i will also at th last chocolat.i guss our lov lasts bcaus it is comfortabl. no, th sky is not blur: it’s just a familiar hu. w don’t fl particularly young: w’v xprincd too much that has contributd to our growth and wisdom, taking its toll on our bodis, and cratd our mmoris.i hop w’v got what it taks to mak our lov last. as a brid, i had scott’s wdding band ngravd with robrt browning’s lin “grow old along with m!” w’r following thos instructions.“if anything is ral, th hart will mak it plain.”