Our first encounter was at work. We met at NYS Collection. Thanks Marc and Sal!

Times were tough for us both, but we developed a friendship initially, which grew into "friends with benefits". This, as you can imagine, was not approved of by family and friends. We always gave each other companionship through some true loss in our families. We continued to date other people and even stopped talking with each other for an extended period of time. After some serious soul searching, we both decided to take a chance at a lasting relationship. Vanessa honestly doubted we would make it more than 6 months together.

Our cultural differences have made this an interesting experience to say the least. On a good day, Joe still has trouble understanding Vanessa, and on the bad ones, Vanessa can change from Speaking English to Spanish without even knowing. “I let her speak her mind and then just stare blankly at her until she realizes what just happened”. Obviously, Joe should know Spanish by now, but that’s another topic for another day. 😊 That being said, it always just works.

We decided to choose a path together, to walk, Some days holding hands, other days one carrying the other. We will continue writing our story together, Travelling as much as possible, and making lasting memories.