My husband Mike and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary at the end of this month, and I can barely wrap my head around it.
This is the anniversary of the day we met: not the day we moved in together in 1988, and not the day we got married in Toronto in 2003. It’s the day it all started, when we first laid eyes on each other. That’s always going to be the most important date to us and, like all important dates, it has a great story behind it.
We met in 1986 at the Gay Pride March in New York City, even though we only lived about 2 miles away from each other in Wilmington, Del., at the time. I was 18 and he was 23. We hit it off great at first, but then I grew cool to his advances and tried to brush him off. I even stood him up over July 4 weekend in Rehoboth. Trust me, I was a big mess back then and I had a lot of stuff I needed to work on. I wasn’t looking for a relationship at the time.
But Mike is part Irish, part Polish, and all stubborn, so he didn’t give up easily. Within a couple of weeks, I was smitten and by Labor Day I was in love. Our songs included two of the biggest hits on the radio that summer: “Mad About You,” by Belinda Carlisle and “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin. It was a crappy year for pop music, obviously.
It was around 10 years ago that we first started getting reactions of disbelief whenever we told people how long we’d been together. No one thought we were old enough to have been together for that long. So for fun I started telling people that when we met, I was 9 and Mike was my pastor. That joke always got a huge laugh, especially since we were both raised Catholic. It had a great run until the day I told it to the mother of a dear friend … and she believed me.
But to her credit, she didn’t bat an eye. She just smiled, lit up like a sunflower and said, “Oh, how wonderful! What church do you belong to?”
I love my friend’s mom to pieces, but I retired that joke right then and there.
So yeah. Twenty-five years. It leaves me speechless when I think about all the great times, the wonderful friends, the crazy families, the awful fights, the sweet reconciliations, the work, the fun, the pain, the tears, the growth, the joy, the cats and, of course, all the amazing sex, which keeps getting better.
I’m one of the luckiest men in the world. I love you, Mike, and I don’t deserve you.
Liberty City Kings
On July 2 at 8 p.m., get yourself to Tabu Lounge, 200 S. 12th St., for the Vixens & Vagabonds Queer & Kinky Cabaret.
The show will be performed by Philly’s one and only award-winning queer drag and burlesque performance troupe the Liberty City Kings. The Kings will be joined on stage by their sexy stage boi Franco and special guests Sabrina Chap, Lucy Cannon and their MC, The Notorious OMG.
What’s a drag king, you ask? Well, if you take the formula for a drag queen, but then flip the genders of both the performers and the recording artists, then you’ve got yourself a drag king! These guys are a lot of fun. If you missed them in the Pride March a couple weeks ago, then don’t miss this show (but get there after I do, because I want a front-row seat).
Doors open at 8, show starts at 9; stick around afterward and dance the night away with DJ Evil V. Check out www.libertycitykings.com for more information.
The show will benefit the Phreak N Queer Arts & Music Festival, running Aug. 4-7 at a variety of venues. Check www.wix.com/marseaumarseau/phreaknqueer for more information.
July 4 weekend
The entire weekend is packed with fireworks and free outdoor events, from movies to concerts to ice-cream festivals to a four-and-a-half-ton hoagie (only in Philly!).
The Penn’s Landing fireworks will be on Saturday, and the Art Museum fireworks will be on Monday after the free concert featuring The Roots, Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael McDonald, Sara Bareilles and more.
After each of these events, make sure you work your way down to the Gayborhood and find your favorite watering hole, most of which are running holiday specials all weekend long. What better way to celebrate your freedom than by throwing back a cold one while surrounded by hot gay guys and gals?
Check out www.welcomeamerica.com for more information.
Questions, comments or news about upcoming events? Contact Jim at [email protected].