Looking Back
by Edgar A. GuestI might have been rich if I'd wanted the gold
instead of the friendships I've made.
I might have had fame if I'd sought for renown
in the hours when I purposely played.
Now I'm standing to-day on the far edge of life,
and I'm just looking backward to see
What I've done with the years and the days that were mine,
and all that has happened to me.
I haven't built much of a fortune to leave
to those who shall carry my name,
And nothing I've done shall entitle me now
to a place on the tablets of fame.
But I've loved the great sky and its spaces of blue;
I've lived with the birds and the trees;
I've turned from the splendor of silver and gold
to share in such pleasures as these.
I've given my time to the children who came;
together we've romped and we've played,
And I wouldn't exchange the glad hours spent
with them for the money that I might have made.
I chose to be known and be loved by the few,
and was deaf to the plaudits of men;
And I'd make the same choice should the chance
come to me to live my life over again.
I've lived with my friends and I've shared in their joys,
known sorrow with all of its tears;
I have harvested much from my acres of life,
though some say I've squandered my years.
For much that is fine has been mine to enjoy,
and I think I have lived to my best,
And I have no regret, as I'm nearing the end,
for the gold that I might have possessed.
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani are engaged! The couple made their engagement Instagram official on October 27 with a post of Stefani’s ring with her new fiance. Just weeks ago Gwen Stefani told Extra that she thought it was “pretty cute” when people referred to Shelton as her husband. “Do you know how many people say my ‘husband’ about him?” she said, referring to Shelton. “I guess we’re just together…People got used to it or something like that,” she added. “But it’s pretty cute.” In August, she corrected Dua Lipa on Jimmy Kimmel Live after the British singer referred to Shelton as her husband. “Um, well … he’s not my husband, but that sounded cool when you said it,” Stefani said. (“I guess our little interview aged well!” Dua Lipa joked on the singer’s announcement post, as captured by Comments By Celebs. “Congratulations!!! Best news.”)
The power couple first fell in love on the set of The Voice in 2015, bonding over their own recent heartbreak and respective divorces. They’ve been together ever since. “When you’re where she and I were, and you just feel so betrayed and on bottom, this bond that we formed when we found out what each other were going through, it’s still there,” Shelton previously told PEOPLE. Four years after news first broke that the couple was dating, a source told PEOPLE the pair were actively planning for a long-term future together. “They’re still madly in love and beyond inseparable,” the source revealed in November. “Blake has wanted to take his time with marriage, but he is absolutely committed to Gwen. They both feel they’ve found their true partner in life and plan to be together forever.” With packed work schedules between The Voice and COVID cancellations, the couple have always remained “very supportive” of each other “both personally and professionally,” said the source.
Two days after the couple announced their engagement, a source tells PEOPLE that Stefani, 51, is “ecstatic” to be the country star’s fiancée. “Gwen is ecstatic. The proposal was a surprise,” the insider says. “Gwen and Blake kept the proposal quiet for a few days, but were very excited to share. The pair have been quarantining in Oklahoma during the coronavirus pandemic with Stefani’s sons Kingston, 14, Zuma, 12, and Apollo, 6. Earlier this month, Shelton and Stefani won the CMT Music award for best collaborative video for “Nobody But You,” a project that Shelton said “brought [them] closer together.” “We’ve been together now for five years, believe it or not,” he told Entertainment Tonight after the win. “We’ve worked together and we’ve written together. So at this point in our relationship, we’re always looking for what’s the next thing that we haven’t accomplished yet.”