i found it in this magazine i was skimming through.

it's a picture of two elderly men, sixty or seventy years old, holding up a sign. it says "49 years together."

the picture was taken on their wedding day.

they were together 49 years before they could marry. 49.

i want to manage to make it 50 with my wife. at least 50. and here are these guys who, a percentage of the nation, says shouldn't be married. who say that, once they do get married, the social fabric of our lives, of our very nation, are going to crumble.

these people say "god created adam and eve... not adam and STEVE!" like it's clever. it's not. if that's your argument, it's old and just stupid.

these people point to their bibles for reasons why it's wrong, on so many levels, for this couple, who managed to stay together 49 years, who fought and argued and suffered, who loved each other, for this couple to get married.

to make it legal in the eyes of the state, of the nation, of any small minded bigot who walks by and tells them they're wrong.

i've had arguments with people about gay marriage. it's hard not to, living in a small town in the south.

they always point to their bibles. and i point right back, but then i ask them to bring me a solid, rational, secular reason why these people shouldn't be allowed to marry.

and they can't.

so i ripped this picture out.

and i carry it with me.

i want 50 years. i want all those fights, all those scares, all that emotion that these two men have had, and continue to have.