A Night to Remember

January 23, 1982 was exactly 25 years ago today. It was a Saturday, and I went with friends from church to see the Windy City Gay Chorus perform. It was a preview show of the councert that they were about to give at Lincoln Center in New York. I was sitting with David, an endearingly queenly young man from our church group. David was always making sure that everyone felt included in whatever group he was with at the time, so it was entirely in character when he introduced several of us to the new guy who was sitting directly in front of me. New Guy was this very handsome bearded guy who struck my fancy immediately. Wanting to continue the interaction, I asked him what he did. "I'm a chemist," was the reply. "Really? So am I." At the time I was working on my grad degree in biochemistry and was more chemist and less biologist than I am now. David, of course, got a bit fluttery over the exchange. "Oh, my, that's not what I would have said."

It's funny how you often don't know at the time what days and what events are having a profound effect on your life. New Guy was, of course, Leon, and today is the 25th anniversary of the day that we met.