2022 Love List:

Jeremy & Heidi & Jess, Monona, 20 years & 4 years
Colleen Frentzel & Kimberly Blanchette, Janesville, 16 Years
Grace Novie Stolen (She/Her, Ae/Aer) & Martin (Ze/Hir, They/Them), Washburn, 1 Year
Sylvester Brown & Giordi Molitor, Milwaukee, 2 years
Joseph & David Rogan-Nordstrom, La Farge, 30+ years
Bear Cunningham & Danielle Jordan, Madison, 2 years

We started dating in March 2020, and managed three successful dates before the pandemic hit and everything shut down. We had to decide whether we were going to be in lockdown together or if we were going to separate and not date for an unknown amount of time. Well, we moved in together. We got to know one another through toilet paper shortages and odd pandemic routines, like dumping all of our take-out from to-go containers into bowls just outside the front door. Our dating flow was constantly interrupted by very unsexy needs—did you wash your hands? Was that a cough? Do you need to check your temperature?  

We leaned on one another as we weathered isolation, established routines of reaching out to our families, and comforted each other when we lost people who were dear to us.

Patsy convinced Vivian to buy her first live Christmas tree.

In January 2021, we got married. In October 2021, we moved to our near eastside home. We’re getting used to some kind of new normal and are slowly reconnecting with the communities we’ve missed this past year and a half. The moments we’ve had as we re-emerge have been joyful—the first time we went grocery shopping together was as memorable a milestone for us as our first meal together out at a restaurant again. We have so many firsts to look forward to!  Going out for a movie date in a theater, traveling abroad, meeting each others’ friends and family in person.  

So, what’s next?  We’re ready.