Congratulations on the prospect of making 25 years! Carol and I reached our twenty-fifth year of cohabitation on May 1, 2010. By now, on one hand, it feels like a permanent condition, but on the other, it feels like it's been hardly any time at all and the important things are new. On the other hand, we started our cohabitation when I was 35 and she was 23—and we had met face to face only a year previous.

Good luck with the financial issues. I quite sympathize: between replacing Carol's computer and vet care for the older cat, my credit got hosed this past year.