Guillermo “Willie” and I met in 2006 when he came to interview for a local start up where I was already working. The hiring manager hired him in no small part because to quote her “he was hot!”. His natural warmth and charm soon made him a favorite among both the frontline team and leadership. I remained the no nonsense manager that people came to for handling tough jobs, support/ advice and solid doses of common sense. We worked together in the trenches of that business where hours were long, expectations could be extreme and the work was never done. We became allies and friends as both were necessary for survival! The business was sold and life moved us in different directions but we never lost touch.

Throughout the time we have known each other one constant has remained between us - we can talk for hours at a time and it will seem as if no time has passed at all.

We reconnected more significantly in 2016, Guillermo had relocated to Austin several years before but was moving back to San Antonio. He returned in 2017 and by August of that year we had quietly moved in together.

Ours is a love that started in friendship and not surprisingly today we are each others best friends. I marvel at how happy and content we are as a couple. We like a quiet, peaceful life. Some could say boring but for us it is just right.

We share so much! We both love music and bring new sounds to each other. He introduced me to the Linda Lindas and I introduced him to Molotov Jukebox. We open each other up to new movie experiences. I love old Hollywood and he can’t resist a slasher film. We are avid food lovers who love to try new places to eat but also never abandon old favorites. We both grew up in the 80s so we speak the same generational language. We both know what it’s like to grow up in rough neighborhoods but despite this we were both fortunate to have strong, positive influences in our lives. We have so many shared milestones from our youth. We share a unified philosophy for what is right and just. We share each other’s politics! We share a vision for how we want to live our lives and what we would like to see in the world.

Our respective families have welcomed each of us with open arms. No doubt because they see how happy we are together.

We can and do disagree at times but disagreements are seldom and quickly mended. Our life is a dream come true for us both and while we may not have found each other at first, we have been blessed to find each other at last.