Thank You

Thank you, for responding to me
when we were young. Thank you
for those long, slow, night-time walks.
Thank you for the conversation. Thank
you for inviting me to dance. Thank you
for teaching me: how to ride a bicycle,
how to ice-skate, how to snowshoe,
how to paddle a canoe. And thank you
for attempting to teach me how to 
drive a car. Thank you for diapering
our children. Thank you for sharing
my bed and my home, and for having
me share yours. Thank you for each
day's first kiss and evening's last. And
the smiles and the hugs that draw away
my frowns, thank you for these, too.
Thank you for your thoughts and
concerns, and for those spirited political
discussions, honouring mine that don't
accord with yours. Thank you for your
time and your patience, and above all,
your humour, your gentleness with me.
Thank you, my dear, for every one of
those birthday cards you made for me.
Thank you for setting the table, and
wiping the dishes, for sharing your
sense of adventure and curiosity with
me. Thank you for all those shared
quiet times, for sharing also my passion
for reading. Thank you for the compliments,
the encouragement. Thank you for growing
older right alongside me, my dear.