Our story started in November 2017 with a Tinder swipe (see our profile photos below) and a date at Gravely Brewing Company in Louisville. JD arrived looking like a charming English teacher in his sweater and gingham shirt. Anthony wore a leather jacket and was told by the waitress he looked just like... Robert Pattinson...? The date lasted three hours, and as the conversation flowed, we both felt a connection (JD reported to a friend after that he was a "big fan -- big, big fan").

Anthony, who wanted to take things slow, waited until March 2018 to make the relationship official. But JD sped things up a few months later by dropping the first "I love you" while nursing Anthony through a bout of the flu. Nothing says romance like Mucinex and fever dreams.

In 2020, we moved in together. If we could survive a global pandemic in the same house, our relationship could survive anything, right? That theory was immediately tested when Anthony took a job in Cincinnati just eight months later. We spent the next two years traveling up and down I-71 on weekends, splitting our lives between two cities until JD finally joined Anthony in the Queen City in 2023.

We weren’t always sure about marriage, but Anthony insisted that if it ever happened, he would be the one to ask. During a last-minute theatre trip to NYC in 2024, Anthony popped the question at the edge of the Harlem Meer in Central Park. We decided to keep the engagement to ourselves until we returned home, but we couldn't help but share the news when we met Cole Escola (the star of the Broadway play Oh, Mary!) at the stage door that night.

Our relationship works so well because of how we balance each other. Anyone who knows JD knows he's a bit of a ham; he loves to entertain and is a deeply curious and thoughtful person. Anthony tends to be quieter until you get to know him (or get a few beers in him); he's creative, analytical and loves to make people laugh with his dry wit and dad jokes. JD pulls Anthony out of his shell, and Anthony keeps JD grounded. Whether we’re chatting about our favorite books/authors, watching Drag Race, debating sci-fi, playing board games, or obsessing over our dogs, we are each other's favorite audience.