Tomorrow, 10/9/2013 is my wedding day. I am marrying Mark Roth, my partner of 35 years. We met on October 9, 1978 when I was an undergraduate at NYU’s College of Arts and Sciences. After a short period of time, we committed to a relationship with each other. Over the next few months Mark’s parents and my parents would become the best of friends.  My parents cooked Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter dinner that we all enjoyed. Mark and I took an apartment together in 1981 and purchased a home together in 2004. Over the years, we have shared a great deal in our relationship. We traveled the world together, visiting places like Morocco, China, Japan, Australia, Poland, and countless others. Mark introduced me to  “entertainment arts” that I wasn’t familiar with  (opera, classical concerts, foreign film) and I introduced him to “entertainment arts” that he wasn’t familiar with (Concerts of Bruce Springsteen, Dion, Three Dog Night, Hootie and the Blowfish, Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons, Tom Jones, ) and numerous others. I also introduced him to “Casino Gambling” and helped him to learn video poker, baccarat, craps, and blackjack that we’ve played throughout the world. Mark introduced me to gourmet dining, and we’ve dined at some of the world’s finest restaurants together, including the Hassler Roof in Rome, Ritz Carlton Dining room in San Francisco, Gary Danko in SFO, Picasso in Las Vegas, and Le Bernardin, Jean Georges, and countless other restaurants in NYC. But throughout our relationship, the love we have for each other has grown more and more with each passing year. We communicate with each other, and understand and accept each others flaws and limitations.  My Cousin Sharyn is going to be our “witness” at our wedding tomorrow, and she keeps telling me just how big a deal this wedding is. Yet Mark and I just feel like it is a way to “officially” renew the vows that we made to one another 35 years ago.  We both need time away together. I’ve been unemployed since 6/30/13 and thanks to the incredible weather during July, August, and September I have enjoyed taking my bicycle to various communities and going for a bike ride each day. Mark hasn’t had time to take off, so our “honeymoon” if you can call it that, will be that much more meaningful. We were planning to spend time in Ocean City, MD, since we both love warm weather and boardwalks but the weather forecast is really bad. So we both agreed to spend our honeymoon in Provincetown, a community neither one of us has ever been to. We have it narrowed down to a motel with a hot tub (which I love!) and a Bed and Breakfast that is extremely well loved that is owned and managed by a gay male couple. My concern is that I’d like our honeymoon to be quiet and relaxing; but I would be concerned that if the gay couple that runs the bed and breakfast finds out about our marriage, they would probably throw a MAJOR party which really isn’t something either of us would like.  That said, we both “go with the flow” so time will tell what the next 35 years brings.  Mark… I love you!