Gino and I met in high school in 1975 when we were classmates at Professional Children's School. I was doing theatre and Gino was a classical dancer. For four years we had a fun friendship and enjoyed sharing some of the same classes. Gino had a real knack for saying things under his breath that he knew would make me laugh, all the while keeping a straight face.

We graduated in 1979 and went our separate ways. We didn't see each other for decades even though we lived only three blocks apart for many years.

In 2009 Gino and I reconnected at our high school reunion. A year went by and Gino and I, along with my high school best friend Dominique, started occasionally hanging out together. It was like old times. The friendship between Gino and I was as fun and comfortable as before. Dominique tried a little matchmaking, but we kept saying "No, we're just friends." Then one day, Gino and I took a walk through Riverside Park starting at 97th Street, down to Battery Park and up the East side to South Street Seaport. Along the way we discovered that despite our differences we had a lot in common. Gino could still make me laugh with his dry sense of humor. He had the qualities that were most important to me in a man and I think I started falling in love with him that day.

I knew that Bambi might be the one for me that same day, too. I also felt how comfortable and "natural" our frienship was and that had been getting me thinking about where we might go in the future. She bought me an ice cream cone at the South Street Seaport and when we got on the subway to head home, she took off her backpack before getting on the train. I thought that a woman who was considerate enough to take off her backpack before even seeing how crowded the train was shared my values so much, it made everything else fall into place.