We met online in October, and while most guys suggest meeting at a bar for a drink, Yudier suggested a walk in the park. It was the first of many green flags. On Halloween, we met at Memorial Park in Houston to watch the sunset and quickly discovered how much we loved talking to each other. Yudier says he immediately felt safe and protected; Austin says he jumped at the first chance to give Yudier his sweater.* We shared stories and bonded over how important family is to us. We didn't want the date to end, so we smuggled fast food into a movie theater and saw a terrible scary movie before saying goodnight and planning our next date, which consisted of Yudier cutting Austin's hair for the first time and Austin asking Yudier "Do you want to get married ... ... I mean, someday, to someone."
*The sweater was cherished and evoked fond memories until Yudier tried to surprise Austin by doing his laundry a few month later, not realizing the sweater was in fact cashmere. It now barely fits our golden doodle, Bongo, and Austin is in charge of laundry.
Once we moved out of our first apartment and bought our first house together, we knew we finally had enough space to begin our family. From early on, Austin made it clear that a canine companion was important to him, and while it wasn't previously part of Yudier's five year plan, he agreed, and in November we brought our little Bongo home. The chaos and joy of raising a puppy together unified us in a new way, balancing the responsibilities and consistently expressing our gratitude for each other. Now that we've made it through the first year with minimal destruction and maximum cuddles, Austin will start warming Yudier up to the idea of growing our pack again in the near future (starting with when he reads this story).
Yudier will be the first to tell you how much Austin loves driving him everywhere, and one of the first exciting drives was when Austin took him to his citizenship ceremony on December 11, 2021. It was a joyous event to witness as he and ten other people took an oath of allegiance, received a certificate and helped each other take photos with family who came to support each other. As a citizen, he was able to apply for family reunification, and two years later, Austin got to make another exciting drive when he took Yudier to meet his mother and 10-year-old brother at the airport where they were immigrating from Cuba just in time for Christmas. Seven years of work to reunite the family, including his father and sister, finally paid off and we couldn't be happier to have everyone in one city again here in Houston. Weekends are now full of trips to the zoo, museums, parks, and most recently Austin got to drive the whole family in a giant SUV to San Antonio for the wedding shower.
Every year we celebrate Yudier's "Arrived in America Day" on May 13 and we were very excited to add another one to our calendar.