"A True Love Story..."

The first time I saw Michael was from across the dance floor at Atlanta's Heretic Bar. Without even thinking, I marched right up to him and said, "You're the hottest guy in here." And just like that, turned and walked away. Before the night was over, we exchanged numbers, and by the end of 2006, we were a couple.

Finding love in Atlanta is pretty rare for gay couples, so we had no idea that a night of dancing together would turn into a lifetime. Two days later, I called him and we talked on the phone for hours. We discovered that we both preferred the simple life. A day just doing laundry and watching television was perfect. We both loved music, especially pop. And we both had the same dreams of traveling the world. It wasn't long before we decided to move in together.

We considered ourselves a married couple and lived our lives as such long before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. We knew that legal or not, we'd spend the rest of our lives together. In October 2015, I had an idea and reached out to Power 96.1 FM asking them to help me propose to Michael during the gay pride parade. The radio station got on board and invited us to ride their float during the parade. At a stop at Sixth and Peachtree streets, that's when I got down on one knee. I told Michael, “With you every day is an adventure. Every adventure turns into a journey and I want the journey to last a lifetime. Will you marry me?” Michael said yes. It was an incredible moment.

After that, everyone wondered how we would top the proposal, and in time, the solution came to us. We heard about Generation Tux's contest for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to tie the knot on New Year's Eve in Times Square in front of millions of people. We quickly put together a video explaining why we deserved to be "2016's First Couple." After rounds of interviews, we were chosen as one of the two finalists. When I received that email, I read it six times because I just couldn't believe it. We didn't end up winning the contest, but as runners-up, we were able to say our vows in a ceremony during the celebration. After 10 years together, it was the perfect fairy-tale ending.