I had a speech of sorts prepared. Public speaking is a large part of what I do, and I thought I'd know what I wanted to say and it'd be witty and funny and get the point across, but it didn't turn out like that.

Our friends (some of them dear friends) were raising glasses of champagne and wine that I'd poured for them before this. Later, one of them told me "I figured you had something big to say, the way you were pushing this on us but I didn't know what it was."

I didn't beat around the bush; I just went for it. "I asked Bruce to marry me."

There was a shout. It was a cry from many people at the table, in surprise and genuine enthusiasm, that almost made me step back. I'll remember that almost as fondly as I'll remember Bruce's face and his tone after I asked him if he wanted to get married. He almost cried out "Yes!"

So things are pretty happy around here right now. Same old house, same couple of old guys living together, but something slightly different about it from here on out.