Still the One at 25

Around Sweetest Day, Joe and I will celebrate twenty-five magnificent years together.

The time has flown by, but one thing remains as true today as it was when I first laid eyes on my date as he crossed West 6th Street in Cleveland, his arm flailing wildly, which made me think of the Frankenstein monster's stiff-armed walk: Joe is and always will be the only one for me. I still light up every time he enters a room.

I say “around" Sweetest Day because that oddest of holidays, which began in Cleveland in 1921 and is always the third Saturday of October, marks the first time we ever spoke on the phone. It was 39 days after 9/11. Joe attended my 40th birthday dinner with my family six weeks later. By the time the holidays arrived, we were inseparable.

Our Hawaiian nuptials
February 23, 2015

Like many same-sex couples, we celebrate two anniversaries: one marking our time together and another marking our marriage. We have been married since 2015.

By a conservative estimate, Joe and I have shared more than 9,000 meals and taken more than 75 vacations; we have also been the loving parents of 7 fur babies.

But numbers don’t tell half the story.

My relationship with Joe is my proudest accomplishment. As exciting as my New York era was, I was lonely beneath it all. I never thought I would find anyone, let alone someone as wonderful as he is, to spend my days with.

How he puts up with me, I will never know.

Anyone who has been in a long-term relationship knows it brings minor abrasions. Joe is always nagging me not to wear my shoes in the house, not to leave my dishes in the sink, and not to leave my unopened packages on the kitchen island. I am always telling him he turns the TV up too loud and that he works too much.

But that is the extent of our friction. We have always agreed on the fundamentals of fun, family, and home. 

Our next adventure

Next week, we will celebrate this milestone with a few days in Amsterdam, followed by a riverboat cruise down the Rhine from that city to Basel. By the time it ends, we will be just shy of the 25-year mark.

Joe, after 25 years, you're still the most handsome, still the one I want to joke around with, still the one I want to share coffee with - still the one.

Earliest days

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