2026 Love List

Tsim Muaj & Cia Siab Rose Moua, Madison, 5.5 years
Rosha & Melissa Guadalupe, Milwaukee, 4 years
Jess & Skye Zitkus, Madison, 8 years
Stephanie & Cindy Jorenby, Belleville, 8 years
Scott & Micah Topel, Beaver Dam, 6.5 years
Alisha Hart & Junior Rittenhouse, Muskego, 2 years

I met Cindy in 1989 when I was 14 and she was 17. I was a freshman in high school, and she was a senior. From the beginning, we had an instant connection. People thought it was strange that a senior would give the time of day to a little freshman, but she did.

She came over to my house to watch MTV, Chicago Bulls games and to simply be close. She protected me from freshman initiation and drove me home from practices. What we shared was unlike any other friendship either of us had. At the time, we didn’t understand it, but others noticed and some felt threatened by it. In our small rural community, people accused us of being gay, which at the time felt unheard of.

Cindy graduated and joined the Army while I finished high school. We stayed in touch for a while, but life moved forward. She married and had her first daughter. I married after high school and had two sons of my own.

Years later, Cindy called me out of the blue and asked to meet for dinner. That night she told me she was gay. I was shocked, but not surprised. We went through our first divorces at the same time, and during that period we shared our first kiss. I wanted to be with her more than anything, but the timing wasn’t right.

She asked me to go to nursing school with her, and I thought, “Why not?” It became one of the best decisions we ever made.

After her divorce, Cindy began a relationship with a woman she later married. I went through a reckless period, struggling with loving my best friend who couldn’t choose me. Years passed. Cindy moved to Florida. I met my second husband, and we had a son together, though over time our relationship began to feel more like roommates than partners.

When Cindy moved back to Wisconsin, our nursing school friends planned a reunion weekend. Cindy and I met early to catch up. We were both unhappy in our marriages and feeling stuck. As we spent more time together, we realized the love we had carried all those years had never left.

We went through divorces again at the same time and moved in together. We married in October 2018. Between us we have seven children and now four grandchildren.

This is our forever, and it was worth the wait.