Dane La Chiusa
Truth be told, I had just come out and never had a boyfriend before. So, there I was, at The Pyramid, waiting for this cute guy I had spotted, to get off the stage. He had been dancing for three hours, so what did I do? I went up to him and asked him to dance. Fortunately, he thought that was hysterical. “Want to go on an adventure?” He asked, hoping to introduce me to his apartment in Queens. I couldn’t though. I had an out of town guest coming in the morning. So my new Brazilian friend and I went to Velselka for pierogis, like one does, at 3 a.m., after the bar in NYC. I chatted him up and we made plans to meet that weekend at The Big Cup, which was a really over-the-top gay coffee shop in Chelsea at the time. I’m pretty sure he rolled his eyes at the suggestion. A month later we were still dating and I made some remark characteristic of my extreme sense of humor and I asked, “How do you put up with me?” And he said, “Because I love you.” My response: Crickets. I didn’t know what love was or is, for that matter. I was sorry I couldn’t reciprocate his feelings right away. Love blossomed. We were kissing on the street every chance we got, groping each other at the bar or the movies, and I confessed I had never had sex with a guy before. No pressure there. There was, of course , the requisite learning curve with any new relationship. Fits of jealousy, having chased after him after a friend of a friend was all over me playing truth or dare… make up sex on the roof of my east village apartment… awkwardly meeting one of his hook-ups from his online profile., But the good times have been amazing. The Moms met. We lived on top of each other in small apartments. We married happily. 28 years together. We love each other to death. Still not sure what he sees in me.