Well, this is the first photo that Marc and I had taken together - back on February 13, 2004 - he was my date for the University of Minnesota Medical School Ball, and we were crazy about each other! (We still are some of the time, of course.) We even slow danced to Nora Jones "Come Away With Me."
Marc and I met on December 6, 2003 at
The Flame. I was in San Diego attending the 2003 American Society of Hematolgy meeting, and my friend Yvette wanted to go to The Flame to check out the scene. (Ironically it was a lesbian bar at that time, and there were only 6 guys there or so.) While I was dancing, one of Marc's friends pushed him into me, we struck up a conversation, and it all began. Marc had been at the Flame after volunteering as a chaperone for a youth dance at the San Diego LGBT Center. It wasn't quite love at first sight, but we were pretty much crazy about each other shortly after we met, which motivated us to continue the relationship despite the distance.
Marc was working in California, and I was going to school in Minnesota. So, for the first three years of our relationship, we flew back and forth, talked on the phone, etc. I even made Marc read the
Long Distance Relationship book, which we've both loaned to our sibs.
We chose to start our lives together by starting over again in a new city - I moved to Seattle in June 2006 to begin residency in Pathology at the University of Washington, and Marc moved to Seattle in January 2007 to join me (he's working as a civil engineer and has enrolled at the University of Washington).
We've had a great 18 months together here in Seattle, with the usual ups and downs - it was a bit stressful to sell two homes, move across country, start new jobs, buy another home, and learn to live together. As the summer has progressed, we've talked about our future and we decided that we want to be married. We talked about all the different options - but the recent
decision by the Republican-appointed California State Supreme Court (consistent with what was twice passed by legislature but vetoed by the governor - though the Governator now says he stands behind the decision) now makes it
legal for same-sex couples to wed - so we plan to do so! Keep in mind that this could be reversed in the fall State of California election - so it may only be for a couple of months.
On September 15, 2008, we will wed in San Francisco... a simple civil service performed by a judge, clerk, etc. in the San Francisco County courthouse. We're both looking forward to it, and we are especially excited about it's intimacy - a small wedding where we can celebrate our union, without the stress of planning a large wedding. We will of course plan a party in Seattle in the future - those of you that can't make it in Sept - don't worry - you can be with us in spirit and celebrate with us in 2009.
More details to come on the specifics...
Mike and Marc
