Cindy and Gaby: Participants in the WE DO Campaign who are requesting a marriage license on Tuesday, October 4, 2011.
I remember the day my brother announced he’d found the gal he was going to marry. They’d only known each other a few months, and it seemed so fast to everyone in my family. When asked how he knew she was “the one,” he shrugged and said, “I just know.” Together now for 22 years, they’ve built a wonderful life based on enduring love and respect that’s stood them in good stead in good times and in bad. They’ve raised great kids, learned from one another, and become better, stronger people for having been in each others’ lives.
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Six years later, I met Gaby – it was then that I truly understood what my brother meant – I “just knew” that Gaby was the one for me. It’s not easy to define love, but you know it when you see it, when you feel it, and when you’re in it. There’s a connection deep in the heart, the soul… a familiarity, a feeling that some part of you already knows this person. You “just know” that together you will build a wonderful life, based on enduring love and respect that will stand you in good stead in good times and in bad.
In our 16 years, Gaby and I have shared great joy, love, success and friendship. We’ve also endured hardship, financial stress and deep tragedy, including the suicide of a friend, the loss of Gaby’s younger brother, our miscarriage, and the excruciating loss of our infant daughter. Together we’ve weathered the kinds of trauma and deep pain that can destroy a relationship. Our commitment to one another not only endured under those circumstances, but also became stronger.
The life we share is an incredibly blessed one. In search of a better place to raise our family, we found a beautiful home in Asheville four years ago, moved here with our then one-year-old son, and made great new friends. Two years later, two of our best friends (and our son’s godparents), moved to the Southeast, followed by Gaby’s mom one year after that. Our son, now 5, is a bright, loving, wondrously awesome and funny wee man who fills us with great joy, and makes us proud and thankful every day. We spend our days and nights letting him know what an amazing and well-loved human he is, a privilege for which we are both supremely grateful. We are raising a great kid, we continue to learn from one another, and have each become better, stronger people for having been in each others’ lives.
Today, we seek nothing more than equal treatment under the law, for our relationship, and for our family. We state today and every day that we are fully human, and as such, are fully equal to our straight counterparts, and deserving of the same respect and legal protections afforded them and their families. Thanks to all who stand with us, and may God bless and keep you.
– Cindy
