8.
The Better-Off Buddies:
“I was engaged to a lovely woman when I was 20/21. Gay marriage wasn’t legal back in the mid-to-late 1990s, but we were committed to each other and planned to have our commitment ceremony/wedding. I had an extremely modest acting career in NYC, while she was a producer destined to do great things. My talent maxed out on Off-Off-Broadway. She got an offer for a dream job in California. If I moved with her, I would’ve been financially dependent on her and would’ve had to try and create a career from scratch. I knew I could never compete with the talent there, and I wasn’t sure what I could do as a career. If things went sour, I’d have been stranded on the west coast without a support system. It took a lot of tears and a lot of talking, but we both knew for us to follow our dreams, we’d have to let the other go. So we did. It was bittersweet, and we honestly wished each other the best.
“She has gone on to do incredible things. Made her mark, followed her dreams. She met another woman, and they are absolutely perfect for her! They’re married, they adopted a couple of kids, and she’s living her dream life. I’m so, so happy for them, especially for her. She’s truly a wonderful person and deserves all the good things, ever.
“Meanwhile, I met an amazing man, and we’ll celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary this year, marking half my life spent with this man. We’ve been through the ringer financially and emotionally, with regards to my health, but he’s never faltered, never wavered, and has always loved me. He stayed when other men would have bailed. I was paralyzed after an illness, and we both learned how to take care of me together.”
—purrfunctory
