Daniel
My partner Orlando and I, it turns out, had spent years not quite meeting. Despite working on the same street and living on adjacent streets, we walked in opposite directions on our daily commute, so our paths never crossed.
In one particularly unlikely, coincidental incident, I witnessed Orlando, at a distance, being hit by a van on Trafalgar Square. I phoned for an ambulance from a call box (not many mobiles back then) and so didn't see him in person, despite potentially helping him.
When we did finally meet, it was randomly in a small pub in Camberwell, South London. He flirted with me and the first thing I did was to render him speechless - something more impressive than you might think with Orlando!
As we were getting to know one another, my partner revealed that he had a fear of flying so, needless to say, I set about changing that. Within six months, we travelled to New Zealand for my father's wedding. He quickly got the travel bug and revelled in seeing the world. We have made friends wherever we have been, often down to my partner's ability to engage people. It's been a joy to see the world through his eyes.
We've been together now for 20 years through thick and thin, much of it in London. There have been some difficult times and many changes in our lives. We've supported each other through mental health episodes, family problems, work changes and used the solidity of our relationship to support others. One of the most recent major changes in our lives has been moving up north to Liverpool - a city we barely knew and building a new life there! We've created a supportive social group, my partner has gone back to dance and we've connected to a huge number of people here. We don't do things by halves! We've been immensely lucky with the people we've met and what we've ended up doing. We already made some great memories here like watching my partner Vogueing with Alyssa Edwards, helping run a club night for Pride.
We’ve been together over 20 years now, and (un)civil partners for 19 of those so we’re planning to renew our vows. A lot has happened since we met that night in Camberwell and we have so much to celebrate.
Orlando
It was the one night stand that never ended.
The first thing that grabbed me about Daniel was his eyes. The chemistry was electric. It was a balmy night in September so we decided to walk home together. He invited me back to his, but I didn’t have any stuff with me. “Wait there,” he said and walked off. I saw him head towards a petrol station. When he came back, he was carrying a yellow toothbrush.
It may sound daft, but I was totally bowled over by that toothbrush. Yellow is my favourite colour too - I took that as a sign. It was a small gesture that sums him up beautifully. He’s a problem solver and he’s also a romantic. He’s always doing little things that are thoughtful, little things that help me out and make my life better. I don’t know what I’d do without him.
Toothbrush in hand, I went back to his and we spent the night together. Little did I know it would mark the start of a fantastic life together. I moved in three weeks later and have never looked back.
