lucky there is no other place
I owned a small laundromat called “The Laundromat” on Fire Island. Carol came in with moldy sheets and towels from her share house. She quoted him $48.50 (this was in 1976). “I’m from the Bronx,” she said. “I don’t pay $48.50 for laundry. I’m going to the other place. She left in a huff, returning only an hour later, all disheveled and hot and upset. “There is no other place,” she said. “I know,” I replied, “but I couldn’t tell you because I know you wouldn’t have believed me.” And that’s how I met my dear wife of 43 years. — Rick Kushner
A dream, long deferred
I was 7 or 8 years old when I was first attracted to other girls. I dreamed of falling in love with a woman. But I belonged to an evangelical church and I didn’t think it was possible. I married a man at 25, hoping it would be enough. But dreams don’t die easily. When I met Liz, 24 years of marriage and three children later, my soul woke up. Now, at the age of 64, I am genuinely free. Free to be seen as I am, not as I pretend to be. Free to experience a love that far exceeds my dream. — kim stamp
a good sport
September 2020, Hanoi, Vietnam: Leigh (Belgian-American, international literature professor) and Kamil (Polish-Vietnamese, MMA fighter/martial arts coach). He was so lonely. I wasn’t. I needed a sport to lift me out of my deep depression. It worked. Over two years of training sessions and board game nights, I fell in love with both martial arts and Kamil. Everyone knew but him. In February 2022, Kamil’s relationship wasn’t working out, Russia had invaded Ukraine, everything seemed tenuous. A friend asked him, “Why don’t you go out with Leigh?” He did. A year later, I asked her to marry me. He will do it. — Leigh’s Redeemer
office visit
I was days away from giving birth but I was still working. Someone said my name. I looked up to see my first true love looking back at me. “What are you doing here?” I asked. He replied that he was in town for work, on a lunch break, and that he was determined to find me (in 1982 workplaces were much less safe). We only visited for five minutes, but I knew then that this man would always have a place in my heart. Throughout my daughter’s life, 41 years later, he and I remained in contact. It is a special friendship. — amy lamy
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