To Have and To Hold

I sleep too late, eat too little, and drink too much tea. I never remember to pay my bills on time and I'm fairly hopeless in the kitchen. When it comes to returning phone calls and emails I get ridiculously distracted and put it off for an embarrassing amount of time. If I'm not reading something online, I'm looking for something to read, and if I'm not reading online I'm reading a book or magazine or anything else that falls in front of me. I am incredibly self-centered, and have a hard time remembering birthdays. I have grandiose plans that never fully come to fruition, and am prone to running off to London when they do.

Despite all this, Mr. B loves me and together we are building a life. Come July, you'll find me in an off-white dress, barefoot in the grass. My announcement today, my blog friends, is this: We are getting married.

There will be no giving away of the bride, because I am my own to give. In truth, I lose nothing. The partnership we have built is one of deliberate jumping -- we did not fall in love, but trusted each other enough to grasp our hands and jump. We flew instead of fell, and we've been testing our wings ever since.

There will be no declaration of obedience, from either of us. I am my own person with my own whims and heart to obey, as is he. We'll compromise and choose, we'll take each step and fall with understanding and love.

It deeply saddens me how simple it is for us to declare we are going to be married because we have the state-approved combination of genitalia. Whether the person who Mr. B is inside -- a person of laughter, charisma, care, and unconditional love -- came to me in the form of a man or a woman, I would still love everything just the same. The right to marry the person you love should not be limited to gender or sexual orientation. I firmly believe that and will ally myself in the fight for equal marriage until we are all free to love openly and legally.

Flâneur in the City won't be turning into a wedding or bride blog; I've learned I haven't the knack for weddings. What interests me the most is starting a new phase in life with my partner by my side. The planning and preparation for the wedding day isn't as important as the life we have together.

You and I may never toast a drink together, dear reader, but I'm proud to share this news with you. Let's keep walking together, shall we?

As for me and Mr. B, we're halfway over the bridge. We'll cross into the new land united; fingers woven together, footfall in rhythm, partners side-by-side.