THEY met in A dance studio.
RJ was visiting a dance studio where Eric was rehearsing for his first cultural show at school. RJ was on disability and only observing, so they did not interact at all. He was introduced to the room as an advisor, but they were never formally introduced.
The very next year, Eric was cast as the soloist in a dance taught by RJ.
From this experience, RJ invited Eric to join his dance & music arts group. They performed together on stage and in the studio.
THEY WERE friends first.
Through performing events and company celebrations, they became friends.
They worked nearby each other in the city and started having lunch and happy hour together. They became confidants, listening to each other, as well as coaching each other on dating and life.
They began hanging out with each other outside of the city, like spending a day at local theme parks. They bonded over family, travel, culture, people & experiences - adventure.
Despite having very strong support and friend networks, Eric and RJ started sarcastically calling each other “best friend.”
Before they saw it themselves, people started telling them that they should be together. That made things weird, funny & awkward for them. They had a serious talk that it wasn’t where they were supposed to go as friends. They continued to trust each other as confidants and began to distance from each other.
THEY WERE READY NATURALLY, AT THE SAME TIME.
Years later, Eric & RJ were both in a transitional time in both of their lives. They remained part of the same performing arts group, but both of their jobs moved to different cities. They made an effort to catch up with each other, but did not spend a lot of time together.
As an old friend, RJ attended a party for Eric. He stayed the whole time, meeting many of Eric’s childhood friends and family. A good time was had by all. RJ walked Eric and his family back to their hotel room, but could not stay to hang out.
The next day, they knew they were at an impasse in their relationship. They needed to part ways or take their friendship in a new direction. They surrendered to gravity.
they agreed.
RJ had met Eric’s family first performing at his sister’s wedding, almost a decade earlier. Eric had met RJ’s family at performances and celebration events. After they got together, they began attending each other’s family events.
RJ and Eric started to build a life together, traveled together to new places and countries, experienced major life events. The Supreme Court affirmed that all Americans were guaranteed the fundamental right to marry. They celebrated this monumental affirmation of love and talked about what it meant.
They agreed that, if the time was ever right, they would want it to be after their families met. So during summer break one year, they loaded up the entire family and dogs and headed to Las Vegas. They stayed at a resort, rented a cabana at the pool, shared a buffet brunch, and watched the 4th of July fireworks over the city with their loved ones. Traveling can be difficult on relationships: everyone got along very well.
A few months later, on one lazy Saturday morning in Fall, while Eric and RJ were relaxing & watching TV on the couch, Eric turned to RJ and said,
“so are we going to tell them?”
“yeah, let’s do it.”
They both knew what this conversation meant, and after some follow up questions, they made plans to tell their loved ones.
photos by Ian Teraoka