College & career counselor, 39, and reading teacher, 38, Tampa
Met: On MySpace
Together: 10 1/2 years
The story: Val and I met back in the day in 2006 when MySpace was the in thing. I had to message her because I didn’t know her last name due to her privacy settings. We met at a park and she ended up pushing her daughter off the swing by accident. I couldn’t stop laughing and knew at that moment that there was something special about her. After a month of dating and watching World Cup matches, we ended up moving in together. This led to our first big purchase of a living room set. Oh boy! Things were starting to get serious! In 2011, when gay marriage became legal in New York, we eloped in NYC. Our love gets stronger and stronger each day. This has been seriously tested within the past year due to some unexpected medical issues. Val has been diagnosed with a chronic illness. It’s showed how serious our dedication is to one another. When we made those marriage vows “in sickness and in health,” we didn’t realize how soon those sacred words were going to play a role in our lives. After all of these years, we know for a fact that we will be together until death do us part.
Vote for Teresa and Val here.
