Best to say it...

Almost ready to drop off into that mysterious place where I sleep with the help of zopi something or other; a thought entered my head and needed voicing.

'Where would I be if I didn't have you?'
At first I thought he had already fallen asleep or was doing the old trick of ignoring me.

'Well, we wouldn't be here for a start.'

'I don't mean had I not met you in the fifties, ensnared you,  married you and had kids. And of course that would be all different.' I day dream a petite moment on how I might have hooked up with a calm stiff upper lip type...
I'm talking about what you have done, what you do for me, how you don't stop working and carry out all or most [the house is not the cleanest it's ever been]   of the daily chores.Without you I would be lost, or tucked away in some Council Nursing Home.'

'Not as long as I'm breathing, cherie. Go to sleep'

I love it when he is masterful.