ABOUT US

BRIAN

For those of you who don't know me or have only shared a part of my life I'll tell you a little about myself and my version of meeting Mike.

I was born in 1971 in Radford, Virginia (about 50 miles west of Roanoke). I lived in Virginia until I was 4, then we moved to Ohio and stayed there until my parents divorced when I was 11. My mom and I then moved to Richmond where I spent my teen years and graduated high school.

I went to college at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Virginia. I majored in Geography (a lifetime passion of mine) and made some incredible friendships there. I am very pleased that most of those friends will be at the commitment ceremony. Even though I don't see them often, they have been a major influence in my life.

Somewhere along the way through college, I got it in my head that I really wanted to move to Minneapolis (I know, I know). I was a big winter/snow fan and I think I really just wanted a nice, quiet, remote city to come to terms with my sexual orientation. Literally the day after I graduated college in May of 1993, I took my dog Abby (whose still with us) and moved to the Twin Cities. I got a job as a cartographer (map maker) at a company in the suburbs there. I liked Minneapolis a lot at first but had a hard time making friends there (though I did make a few). The 6-month winters got old fast.

After three years there, I decided I was ready for a much more exciting place. On the way back from Key West, I stopped for the weekend in Chicago. I made friends instantly and knew it was the place for me.

I've made some incredible friends here in Chicago and it didn't take me long to find a boyfriend either. It was snowy and slushy on the night of Thursday, November 21st and I was sitting in my room debating whether to go out or not. I felt like it even though none of my other friends wanted to join me. I was standing around at Sidetrack (our local video bar) talking to my friend David when I noticed this very strikingly handsome man talking with his friends at the front of the bar. I couldn't stop staring at him. We flirted with our eyes for a good hour but I was too nervous to go talk to him while he was with his group. I told my friend David how hot I thought this guy was and David encouraged me to go up to him. I said no, I was going to just leave and stick my phone number in his pocket as I walked out the door if he didn't come to me shortly. David left me by myself (I think for that purpose) to be approached. Mike headed over to me, we talked, we went on dates, and six months later we were in love and living together.

It's been an amazing four years with him and our relationship keeps getting better all the time. I'll save the rest of the mushy stuff for the ceremony.

MIKE

Like Brian, I was also born in Virginia, although on the other side of the state (Portsmouth) and somewhat earlier (1963). However, I have spent nearly my entire life in northern Illinois, growing up in Lindenhurst which is about 50 miles north of Chicago.

Lindenhurst was a great place to grow up - we lived a block from a lake which provided for endless summer entertainment for myself and the other neighborhood kids. While I was in college, we moved to Antioch which is a couple miles west and north of Lindenhurst.

Although I enjoyed sports, I wasn't particularly good at any of them, so my biggest activity in high school was being part of the school newspaper I was a photographer and became the photo editor my senior year.

I attended Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and majored in Civil Engineering. I lived in the dorms the entire four years and also made some incredible friendships - unfortunately we are scattered across the country. I was a member of the university's bowling team - that was fun and it provided some nice weekend breaks as we traveled to other schools in the state to compete.

After college I began working for a consulting engineering firm in downtown Chicago.  The commute from the far north suburbs was a bit much so I moved to Glenview which is about 20 miles northwest of the city,  by 1991 I finally moved into the city into a 36th floor apartment with stunning panoramic views of the city and lake.

I went to graduate school at night, ultimately getting my M.B.A. with and emphasis in finance. I published an investment newsletter for three years and began investment consulting.  Today I am still active in both engineering and personal consulting.

I'm an avid Cub's fan - we live about four blocks north and east of Wrigley Field, and I attend roughly fifteen games a year (they are currently in first place, threatening to make this an even more special year). I like to play pool, read, travel, and try different restaurants of which our city  has a seemingly endless number of incredible ones.

Brian told you how we met - but I can add some details from my side. It was a Thursday night, and I very rarely ever went out during the week.  I was going to be on vacation the following week so I figured I could survive the one workday and decided to go out and play pool.  I usually, played at Roscoes which is across the street from SideTrack. Unfortunately there wasn't really anybody playing so instead of going home right away thought I'd go over to Sidetrack to see if anybody was out that I knew. I very rarely went to this bar - now don't laugh - mainly because they don't have a pool table.  I did run into a couple friends there and as I was talking to them I caught sight of Brian - he told you what happened from there. I feel very lucky to have found somebody so special .

We used to have our e-mail links here but are getting too much junk e-mail from spammers that scan websites for e-mail addresses. You can alway leave a personal message in the guest book and we will get back to you if you leave your e-mail.

OUR DOGS

HOME