WE GO TOGETHER

On a beautiful Sunday morning, we caught each others' eyes at the...gym. Funny enough, neither of us felt like going to the gym that morning but evidently, there was something telling us inside that we should go. Clarione: "I was on the elliptical when I sneezed and much to my surprise, I heard someone say, 'Bless you.' I turned around and was surprised to see Jeff on the Stairmaster behind me." Eventually, we *coincidentally* exited the gym at the same time and made our introductions outside. We joked around for a bit and decided to go on a date later in the week. Since then, we've rarely spent a day apart.

It was the day of the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus summer concert at the Balboa Theater and Clarione was going to make a public announcement on stage about a collaboration with the Chorus and the children's book he illustrated. He invited their friends and family to watch his "big moment" on stage and even had Jeff up on stage holding the book for him while he spoke. After his announcement, Clarione segued into asking Jeff to marry him in front of 1300 people. After all the cheers and applause, the chorus started to sing, "From This Moment On" by Shania Twain, which perfectly rounded out the special moment. A month later, Jeff wanted to do something special for Clarione so he sat him down on their living room sofa to ask him a question. He began to tell Clarione how perfect they were together and how much they completed each other. When out of no where, Jeff pulled out a small box from behind the pillow on the sofa. The spectacle and grandstanding was definitely not Jeff's style, so he did what felt right for him and asked for Clarione's hand in return in the comfort of their home. Humble. Intimate. Perfect.