We’re hoping that if you’ve made it this far you’ve figured out that we are a gay couple. If you haven’t, then, um… we’re a gay couple. If you find this offensive, you should probably leave this site and go somewhere that is in your comfort zone. This page contains information about us as a couple—how we met, our life together and the “stuff” that makes up our everyday life. There’s nothing here that would be X-rated in most countries.

Introductions…

Robert and I met online at some point in May of 1997 in a chat room on America Online. (I know, I know… I can hear you now: “AOL?”) We chatted almost daily for a month and a half before we both had the courage (or nerve?) to meet in real life. We had grown fond of each other during that online time of getting to know each other (sounds like a freakin’ eHarmony commercial… ick!). Suffice it to say that first in-person meeting in July went very well and we have been together ever since.

Occupational Hazard?

After several job changes and not really knowing what he wanted to do for a career, in 1998, Robert became a licensed Cosmetologist (how’s that for a “gay” stereotype?). Robert was quickly growing tired of making money for other shop owners. So, we jumped into the murky waters of entrepreneurship and started our own business. We happened upon a small hair and tanning salon (a 3 chair, 2 tanning bed shop) that was for sale in Rogers, Arkansas. We purchased the assets, took over the lease and opened Odyssey Tanning & Hair Salon in January 1999.

After five years of growth at the Rogers location, we sold the assets of the salon and used those funds to move the hair salon (without the tanning) to the neighboring town of Bentonville. Most of Robert’s clientele was from Bentonville, and to us that area had more growth potential than staying in Rogers. The new salon—now called Odyssey Salon—was a great move for our business and for us. It’s an upbeat, 11 chair salon that also offers massage services.

In December 2005, we opened Odyssey Tattoo (previously called Odyssey Art Studio)—an “upscale” tattoo and body piercing studio. Why would we open a tattoo shop? Call it planned career change for myself. I came to realize that I didn’t want to continue with the line of work I was in anymore (I had been doing computer work for more than a decade now) and missed doing things with some of my artistic talents. Luckily, all things fell into place just right: we were able to find an awesome tattoo artist (yes, I’m biased—but she is awesome! And yes, I said she!) to both open the shop with as well as apprentice me to learn the trade. (Did you know?—tattooing and body piercing is regulated in Arkansas by the Department of Health and Human Services.) I left my computer geek day job and became a full-time tattoo artist in June 2009.

Life as we know it…

Other than staying busy with the businesses, there’s not much that goes on with us that others might call “exciting.” We tend to be a pretty low-keyed couple (well, depending on your definition of “low-keyed”…) being more homebodies than anything else. I think we both have concluded that we have entered a time in our life where neither of us no longer deems it necessary to spend every weekend partying at the clubs. (Going out has always been more Robert’s “cup of tea.” As you can imagine, there’s not much choice in the Northwest Arkansas area in the way of gay clubs. In fact, for the longest time, there was only one gay bar!) We are both content to stay at home and spend time with one another; work around our house; travel; or, hang out with friends. (Okay—we occasionally head out to the bar, in spurts.) Robert spends a fair amount of time attached to the Internet—chatting with friends. And we both do the e-mail thing; and just browsing around the web.

We might be maturing (a little), but to us the most important thing in life is sharing these moments together and spending what time we have been allotted with each other. And as of late, we have been spending time with friends traveling and exploring other areas—which has been a great opportunity to see the world around us. I have to admit they have helped to break us a little more out of our “shells.”

The Next Generation…

We are also the proud parents of three children—two daughters, Tara and Aimee, and a son, Matthew. When Robert and I first met, I was really, really, really unsure about “inheriting” children: mostly because I never had a desire to procreate, and secondly because they weren’t really “ours.” Those feelings have changed over time. I think of the kids as “ours” now, and I have to say it is nice being called “dad.” And the kids absolutely love having two dads to do things with and be spoiled by. They are mostly grown up now—two are now adults and the youngest is almost one as well—so we see less and less of them as they come into their own as we all did. It probably won’t be long before we start writing about grandchildren. (Well, it better be longer than sooner!)

* Back-story: The kids are from Robert’s prior marriage. Robert married his best friend right out of high school in 1984, hoping it would “cure” him of being gay… they later divorced.

Apocalypso…

While we don’t know what might lie ahead in the future, Robert and I are always thinking about long-term plans and where we want to be. We both know we want to be financially comfortable (who doesn’t?); be able to do the things we want when we want, such as make purchases, travel, etc.; to have a farm/homestead out in the country that we can enjoy together (which as of September 2002 we do); to be able to provide for our children (hopefully we’ve been doing that!); and to not have to work until the day we die but be able to “retire” before/during “middle age.” While I’m sure these are goals that most people have, we have been working to make them happen for us.

Here’s to the future!