I met a girl at NYC Pride. I wasn’t looking to meet anyone per se, but I was open to it. My friend and I were, however, definitely hoping to meet some awesome new friends. We were joking during our whole trip into the city that we needed to keep at least three feet of distance between us so no one would think we were together. We were joking—kind of. (Fast forward a number of years and we were obviously pioneers of social distancing for way, way, way, different reasons.)

It was a perfect summer day. We hit the parade, saw more flesh than necessary, and then decided to hit the infamous Cubbyhole. The bar was packed and you could barely move. It was hot, but the drinks were flowing, and, despite the cramped crowd, everyone was in great spirits. My friend and I got a little separated, but if you’ve ever been to the Cubbyhole, you know it’s impossible to actually lose someone in this tiny gay bar. I was able to get a drink and then turned around to go look for my friend. When I turned around, there was the girl. We were directly in front of one another and she was laughing about something while holding a margarita in one hand and a beer in the other. Without missing a beat, I said something to her like, “What’s so funny?” The rest of this encounter is a bit of a blur. The fortunate part is that she was with a group of her friends and I was with my friend and, before we knew it, our dreams came true and we all met awesome new friends!

The girl and I hit it off immediately. We hung out for the rest of the day and night and I really wanted to see where this was headed—if anywhere at all. I was flying to Florida to visit my grandparents later that week and asked her if we could get together before my trip. My thought was, I wanted to hang out with her to find out for sure if she was worth thinking about while I was away or if our connection had just been Pride Day rainbows and butterflies and nothing else.

She agreed. I told her I wanted to meet somewhere in the middle—just in case I didn’t like her—and that way, I wouldn’t have to go out of my way. I also told her we should start with a drink at the bar and if I didn’t hate her, we could get dinner. Luckily, she got my humor and wasn’t offended, so we agreed to meet in the city at a bar/restaurant she liked. Little did she know that going into the city was not convenient for me at all, but I was totally willing to go anywhere to meet her. All she had to do was name the place and the time and I would have moved mountains to get there. We had a drink or two, ate dinner, headed back to the Cubbyhole for a night cap, and then she dropped me off at the train station. I arrived home, literally took a nap, and headed off to the airport for my trip where I would spend the entire time thinking of her and where our potential relationship was headed. Spoiler alert: We’re now married.

The movie, Duck Butter, had a decent premise. Two characters that are drawn to each other need to filter out the noise and bare their souls to avoid wasting their own time. This is kind of how I felt after meeting my wife. I felt drawn to her, but didn’t want to spend my time thinking about her if she wasn’t worth it. I needed to know if I felt a true connection with her or if it was the drinks and the joy of the day that made me think I had. I needed that one-on-one time with her in a calm setting to get to know her and to see how I felt. In the movie, the two main characters decided to spend twenty-four hours together. While our date certainly wasn’t that long, it was plenty of time to know I wanted more time with her. I returned from my trip and we hung out as soon as we could. I invited her to my house and she stayed over. Now don’t get any ideas. We didn’t U-Haul and we didn’t go out and adopt a pet together that first day. We just simply spent the night together getting to know each other because of the long distance between where we lived at the time. I couldn’t get enough of her then and I still can’t get enough of her now.

I met a girl at NYC Pride and then married her. If that’s not a gay (happy) ending, I don’t know what is.