What do I call her?

Q I have a… well, I don’t what I have, because I don’t know the name for it and wondered if you could help. I’m 75 and she’s 73, and we spend every weekend together and share the same bedroom. We love each other very much. But what do I call her? I can’t call her my girlfriend, can I? Francis by email A I don’t see why not. Everyone would know what you meant. You could say, ‘My treasured companion’, or ‘My pearl among jewels’, or something facetious. But why not just call her by her name? If you refer to her as ‘My friend Mary’, I think we’d all get the picture. Any other ideas out there? And what do you call an elderly boyfriend?