Mr Right

(December 2017...)
Holly entered my wrecked life even while Mark was still alive. He's been with me ever since, and so much has changed over the last few years that I don't think a few hours or days even, spent updating a website is going to do it all justice. Suffice to say, Mark passed away from HIV and Hep C in 2011. In 2012, I left Whatcom County and moved back to Seattle. Holly and I travelled to Nova Scotia in late 2014, and in April 2015 he moved in with me from Vancouver BC. That's the snapshot. And now, here are some pics...

Wedding 2015	Happy us.	Earth Day at Golden Gardens 2016
Baker Holly	with Laura 2016	Hand fasting ceremony.
Women's march January 2017	near Vantage WA	Vermont 2014

(My original posting on this site, written in the early 2000's about the lovely Mark Edward Smith 1956-2011)

It Was A Long Time

...before I finally found somebody I could be happy with. Here finally, was a man who could make a promise and keep it, who was intelligent and interesting enough to fascinate, who could make me laugh loud and long, and who didn't worry about blending in, or accumulating trophies, or even getting laid. Its almost as if all the things I'd spent much of my post coming-out life fretting over were thrown into relief, in such a way as to reveal their true importance, relative to the things that matter--like what they say in boyscouts about trust and loyalty--only for real. Not that I thought loyalty was bogus when Troup 29 went off hiking around Mount Shasta, but somehow those ideals weren't particularly relevant as I created a life for myself. In the gay world when you're 20, what matters is whether or not you're cute enough to get picked up at the bar on a Friday, and are white socks ok to wear with black leather shoes (no!), and is my next boyfriend going to last longer than Lent...these were the thoughts that separated me out from, well, everyone and no-one. At 26, I managed to acheive a balance between cerebral self-rationalization and plain old self pity. Oh, the spark was always there, but Mark gets a lot of credit for getting me out of my head, and by example making me into a more loving, and maybe a bit less self centered, person. Mark is no average boyscout, however, unless Troup 29 gave merit badges for strapping live hedgehogs onto snow tires for traction, or something like that. If that's confusing, wait till you see these:

Here's Mark on an airboat in the Florida Everglades. Oddly enough he has his clothes on.	Mark mystifies a crowd; of course he doesn't need a stage for that.	That's not us, but I think Mark wanted to try on the outfits. Mark took these Pride Pics.
A caption here seems redundant.	Mark's best side?	Mark takes inspiration from Broom Hilda.
Leading banner from BC Pride 2000.	That's Mark and me during an incredible weekend in Neah Bay, Washington. He's the best boyfriend in the whole world and I love him very much.	Mark later ate the gator.