This coming Sunday at the beautiful Chestnut Club in Philadelphia, a wonderful couple will enjoy a dream come true as they celebrate their commitment to one another. Sue and Lisa won our free commitment ceremony and reception through an essay in the PGN that is sponsored by Provence Catering to mark the inaugural National Commitment Day. Provence Catering with the support of so many incredible sponsors (including The Chestnut Club, East Coast Event Group, Brian Toner at Eventions, Alyssa Maloof Photography, Natural Designs Floral, Select Event Rental, Shutter Booth Photo Booths, Sandy O and The Creative Juice Group, New Hope Winery, Franks Union Wine Mart, Ice Concepts & Eco-Bar are making this dream come true for this incredible couple.Here is their heart warming and humorous essay:
Lisa and I met on October 7, 2007, which you may remember as the day Outfest was held that year. I had just transferred to Temple University and decided that volunteering at said event would be a good way to make friends in the LGBT community here, and Lisa was looking for a good way to spend a day off work and decided to volunteer herself. I arrived at 8am and was given the task of taking vendor requests for tables and chairs and assigning people to carry them to the proper location. Lisa was selected to work under me and carry tables and chairs where I told her to. Also assigned to me were several young teenage girls, who decided that spending hours at the nearest Starbucks was a better use of their time, and a drag queen whose unfortunate choice of footwear (four inch stiletto heels, to be exact) rendered her essentially useless, thereby making Lisa one of the best workers I had, and I certainly took advantage of that (later she tells me that she was trying to impress me with her work effort). With our duties complete, Lisa and I decided to explore Outfest together and get to know each other.
By the end of the day she had asked me out (twice, because she was so nervous) and given me an impromptu kiss as I said goodbye. I was a bundle of nerves before our first date a week later, and turns out I had reason to be as it was a complete disaster. Rather than spending time alone together, we ended up driving all around Philadelphia attempting to locate my roommate whose car had broken down. Despite all that, and having been through hell and back with each other, Lisa proposed to me a year into our relationship. We moved in together and here we are, looking forward to celebrating our two year anniversary at this year’s Outfest.
So why do I think we deserve this wonderful opportunity being offered by this contest? Well, we're young. And because we're young, we are broke and impatient. I will (hopefully) be graduating this coming May, and I have recently sent out my applications to medical schools all over the northeast. While I am busy with school, Lisa is working full time in Rio Grande, NJ and is sacrificing working 5 days of the week, 2 hours away to keep a roof over my head and food on the table while she works on obtaining a scholarship for flight school. In short, it's a feat unto itself being able to pay rent on time (somewhat), and the truth is that we have no idea what school I will get into and where we will be a year from now. So we were given a choice. Wait another few years until I am done with school completely to tie the knot, or do it after graduation with a limited amount of time and a budget of $0. We both decided that we would rather not wait that long. Truth is told, the how and when and where part doesn't matter so much to me. All I need is me and her and it will be perfect. But I know Lisa feels differently. She may smile and say, "Baby, we can have a city hall ceremony with just my mom there, it doesn't matter", but I know she wants the ceremony with all the trimmings. She wants the cake and the catering and she wants her huge, crazy family to be present. So maybe the biggest reason I think we deserve this opportunity, dear reader, is a selfish one. The reason is this: the greatest gift to me would be the ability to give her this opportunity. Since the day I met her I have been telling her that she is deserving and worthy of the best things that life has to offer, and if it is within my power to give her these things than I have to try. I have to take this chance and hope for the best.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my story and for providing the lucky winners in the gay community such a wonderful gift.
Our Best Wishes To Sue and Lisa on this incredible occasion and thanks to all those who helped make their dream a reality and showed their support for National Commitment Day!
