dzinerbear
01-31-2010, 02:26 AM
Fifteen years ago tonight, I was leaving my job at the video store. I was working the late shift, so it was after 2 a.m., and as I locked up the store, I saw this guy sitting across the street on The Steps. (The Second Cup was the hub of the gaybourhood. Everyone went there to hang out, to sit on their steps and watch the world go by, to be with their friends, to cruise the men, or to wait for a friend.)
As I looked across the street, I thought, "There's that guy." We had been cruising one another for about five years, but when we'd see one another, a couple of times a year, things just wouldn't be right. He'd be with someone or I would. Finally, there he was, all alone and waiting for me. So, I seized the opportunity and went over and sat beside him.
After we talked for a few minutes, I asked if I could kiss him. He didn't answer. He just leaned in and we kissed. I love kissing men, it's probably the most important part of connecting with men for me, and this guy could kiss.
A few minutes later, we went back to my place around the corner. And I started to fall in love with Ted.
As I sit here reflecting, I think what an achievement it is that two people have been together for fifteen years. Whatever else we've achieved in our lives pales in comparision. It's quite a magnificient thing that through everything that has happened over the past fifteen years we're still together – committed to each other.
The Steps are gone now. A Vietnamese restaurant and a Subway moved into the Second Cup, moved their storefronts out to include "the steps" and they paved in a wheelchair ramp. But I still remember the very spot where I kissed my Ted for the first time.
Michael
As I looked across the street, I thought, "There's that guy." We had been cruising one another for about five years, but when we'd see one another, a couple of times a year, things just wouldn't be right. He'd be with someone or I would. Finally, there he was, all alone and waiting for me. So, I seized the opportunity and went over and sat beside him.
After we talked for a few minutes, I asked if I could kiss him. He didn't answer. He just leaned in and we kissed. I love kissing men, it's probably the most important part of connecting with men for me, and this guy could kiss.
A few minutes later, we went back to my place around the corner. And I started to fall in love with Ted.
As I sit here reflecting, I think what an achievement it is that two people have been together for fifteen years. Whatever else we've achieved in our lives pales in comparision. It's quite a magnificient thing that through everything that has happened over the past fifteen years we're still together – committed to each other.
The Steps are gone now. A Vietnamese restaurant and a Subway moved into the Second Cup, moved their storefronts out to include "the steps" and they paved in a wheelchair ramp. But I still remember the very spot where I kissed my Ted for the first time.
Michael