I got my novice ticket in 1968. Though I remember my year as a novice with great pleasure (lots of fun QSOs), I couldn't wait to get my general and get to use SSB. Once I got my general, I didn't look back and had a lot of fun making phone QSOs.
In 1975, I got busy with grad school and went QRT. After that, I moved around in apartments a lot for a number of years and although I had some old gear in my parents' basement, I never got back on the air. However, the one time my license came up for renewal, I did renew it. Then, in 1991, I ran into a fellow professionally who happened to be a ham (he actually had a small station in his office). I ID'd the rig immediately and we got to talking about ham radio. He gave me a couple of old QSTs and after a few weeks, I went down to HRO and bought a TS-140s.
The interesting thing was that, as I was buying the radio, I was thinking about all the fun I'd had making CW QSOs as a novice. So, I bought a paddle and an external electronic keyer just a couple of weeks after I bought the radio. I had a feeling I could get right back into CW without a problem and that proved to be the case. I've been primarily a CW op ever since and still love it.
I think the reason I've loved CW all these years is that there is a "romance" in hearing those tones come at me out of the headphones. It makes me feel I'm doing something exotic. As many have noted, I can hear distinctive fists and distinctive operating styles. In my limited excursions into the realm of SSB, I have noted that CW operators, by and large, are more professional, and so the pleasure of a QSO is enhanced by engaging in something with another person that I can't do on phone, i.e., have an exchange of info, chat and the like that requires a mutual exchange of skill. It is pleasant to work with someone else seamlessly to have a great CW QSO. Finally, as noted by many on here, it requires enough of my mind that I can't daydream or get distracted. It requires all of my attention and I become totally absorbed in what I am doing. That doesn't happen to me with an ordinary SSB QSO.
I also want to agree with the people who mentioned the efficiency of CW as opposed to SSB, for long-distance communications. I have certainly worked DX on SSB (and have even done it QRP), but it is so much easier to pull off on CW. Busting a pileup on CW is also a thrill, especially when I hear my callsign coming back to me from the DX.
I'll mention one thing I remember reading. I am a white guy, but I read that, for years, black American hams tended to like CW because no one tell they were black and so could not hold their race against them if all they heard was their fist on CW. It's an interesting point, but what it means is that CW is the great equalizer. You can brag about your rig, your antenna, or whatever, but the fanciest 1.5kw radio, operated by the wealthiest person in the world, sounds exactly the same as someone operating a 1 watt tuna tin rig into a dipole.
I'll close by remembering a CW QSO I had years ago with a ham who was in his late 80's. He was telling me that his XYL of many years had died the year before and that all he had to look forward to (since he couldn't get out much any more) was his daily CW QSO. He said, without it, he wouldn't have anything left to live for. His fist was a bit erratic but I swear to God I could hear his emotion coming through while I was copying him. Somehow, I don't think he'd have been that blunt if we had been on SSB. God bless him.
CW forever!