So Tom and I went to Chen Yang Li in Bow for dinner. We usually go there at least twice a month — they have the best Beijing duck, a great sushi bar and very friendly staff who always make us feel like we’re their most important customers.

Between sushi and dessert, the waitress stopped to chat and asked us if we were dating. When we told her we’d been married for twelve years, she asked us what we did to keep our marriage so fresh.

We’ve always known that our relationship isn’t quite normal… when we celebrated our anniversary a few weeks ago, we talked about how easy those twelve years have been… how unusual it is for two people to spend that much time living under the same roof without ever having had a fight.

Tonight, our waitress went on and on about how we’re always talking… and smiling… and how she hoped that when she’d been married for twelve years, she and her husband would be as happy.

What a thrill it was to learn that other people see what we feel.