The other day my girlfriend made a comment that meant more to me than she can possibly know. She said that she liked seeing me being so happy. It's not like I've been the picture of depression or anything, but I haven't been truly happy about a lot of things in quite some time. My relationship with her--nine months strong--has been a relationship of new things, of complete honesty, and . . . other stuff I haven't had in most of my past relationships.
It would be cliche of me to say "I never thought I'd ever be this happy," but a cliche is a cliche because it's true. I am truly happy. Things are working out very well, and are unfolding at their own pace (I have a track record of forcing things to a plateau--or, in some cases, the finish line). I look forward to being able to say the same thing 50 or 60 years from now.