Of course my husband and I both have terms of endearment for each other. But what we find ourselves saying most often in wonder is, “It takes two.”

During the first 15 years of our marriage we both were quite independent. I don’t think we ever said “It takes two” unless it was lifting something heavy.

We had a busy, active life, mostly having fun together kayaking, boating, biking or dancing. I loved our active lifestyle and didn’t think that would ever change.

Ha! Shows how little I knew about the circle of life. About the same time three hurricanes affected our lifestyle we started to slow down physically. We seemed to be more involved with cleaning up our homes after the hurricanes than with our fun activities.

After the hurricanes hit I can’t remember when we were able to have leisure fun.

After David’s house was destroyed by hurricanes Milton and Helene, we again had to be preoccupied with where we would live.

Thankfully, after my home was repaired after it was hit with Hurricane Ian it gave us a place to live. We were grateful we have some place to live, but we had to make major adjustments in squeezing into my much-smaller home.

David’s most frequent expression seemed to be, “Where can I put this?” My answer was always the same. It has to go. There is no room.

I had to end every conversation with “At least we have a home.”

But one major change surprised us. We drew closer as a couple. We tackled every problem together as we rebuilt our lives.

We learned to be more patient with each other as we looked for solutions to the day’s problem. There were always problems, but I’m amazed at how well we worked together in tackling those problems.

We’ve even developed a sense of humor as we say “It take two.”

Sometimes it’s a small thing, like looking for the jar of mayonnaise. “It’s not here,” said David as he was standing at the open refrigerator.

I reached in and pulled out the jar he couldn’t see.

A few days later I was the one who needed help. I couldn’t find my cellphone anywhere. After searching all day it seemed the phone was nowhere in the house.

No matter how many times we rang my cellphone, there was no answering chirp.

I just bought the phone and hoped I never had to buy another one. But with no landline, people would have no way of reaching me. I was ready to give up in despair.

Finally David heard the very faint sound of my cellphone. He said it must be buried under something. We moved all the furniture, went through the garbage, and went through the cloths in my closet. No cellphone.

But the very faint sound of the cellphone could still be heard in the kitchen.

Finally I open the refrigerator and there was my phone buried under the roast I was planning to cook. I felt like a dunce — but at least I was a happy dunce.

I told David I never would have found it without him. “It takes two,” he laughed. He was nice enough not to question how the phone got in the refrigerator.

All my life I’ve tried to be self-sufficient. But the older I get the more I am thankful to have someone by my side.

It does takes two, especially when you’re older.

Older love is quite different. As we age our needs change.

I am far from the person who fell in love with David because we liked the same things. I tell him I never would have fallen for him if he weren’t president of the kayak club.

He thinks I’m joking. I’m not.

When I started dating again a few years after my first husband died I knew I wanted an outdoor guy.

Some guys tried to fake it, pretending they loved the outdoors as much as I do.

There was one funny date that illustrated guys sometime pretend to be what they are not.

A guy in my development told me he thrived on being an outdoor guy. When he invited me to go with him for our Fourth of July fireworks I said sure.

We set up our chairs by the waterway to watch the fireworks but soon it stated to rain.

This so-called nature guy left me there and ran as fast as he could to get to the car so he wouldn’t get wet. Not my idea of a nature guy.

When I met David I loved the fact that he was president of our kayak club. There was no faking that he was an outdoor guy.

We were a perfect pair, enjoying kayaking, boating, biking and dancing. We both thrived on an active lifestyle.

While it has worked well as a marriage, now we each are having to accept there comes time when we can’t be as active as we once were. It’s not easy to accept but it’s one more thing we are facing together.

When we are older our needs change. The important thing is to continue to grow together.

Because no matter what stage of life you are in, it can be better together with two.

Email Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net