Author: Joanne Camas

Set your heart aflutter with our series “Love Stories,” which features unique couples whose tales will inspire you to celebrate and #ShareYourLoveStory this Valentine’s Day. This love story shows how first impressions can lead to a lasting relationship.

Noriko Sato and Pedro Lee met in Brooklyn a decade ago. She says she noticed him when he walked into the bar she was in with friends because it was nighttime and he was wearing sunglasses. Pedro disputes her definition of “night” and says it was more like dusk, so sunglasses were, in fact, perfectly acceptable.

They tease each other about the story, clearly enjoying the easy banter as they look back over their seven years together. Noriko and Pedro come from very different backgrounds (she is from Japan, he is African American and grew up in Edgefield, South Carolina), yet they share a similar quirkiness and sense of humor.

Now they have made their home in East New York, Brooklyn, though they are always happy to take off and explore new places. “We like to go out to eat and travel,” Pedro says. And, of course, those activities often lead to interesting new combinations and experiences.

Look and learn

Pedro says he realized he was in love with Noriko when they were out with a group of friends. He was sitting off to the side. “I noticed how she reacted with others and how others were connecting to her energy,” he explains. That early impression has firmed up over their years together. “I discovered consistency in character — there are no surprises with her,” Pedro says. “We are very upfront with each other to avoid any blindside hits within the relationship.”

For her part, Noriko remembers a little drawing Pedro made for her right after they first met. “It just was a shocking gesture out of nowhere,” she says of the surprise. “He still gives thoughtful gifts.”

The pair say COVID-19 restrictions have not had much of an impact on them, as they live together and could make the most of quarantine time, building on the foundation of their relationship. “We make ourselves strong, no matter the event,” she says.

And what about Pedro and the nighttime sunglasses that sparked this whole romance? “Pedro hasn’t worn sunglasses in years!” Noriko says with a smile.

Set your heart aflutter with our series “Love Stories,” which features unique couples whose tales will inspire you to celebrate and #ShareYourLoveStory this Valentine’s Day. This love story shows a couple’s devotion despite distance and life’s challenges.

While absence may make the heart grow fonder, it’s not easy. Brandon Reyes and Jonathan Calixto can testify to that: They’ve been doing the long-distance-relationship shuffle for four years now.

Ironically, Brandon had just accepted a job and moved to Virginia when he met New York City-based Jonathan through a dating app. He was back in Manhattan visiting grad school friends when he happened on Jonathan’s profile, and they arranged to meet up.

While the initial attraction was physical based on their photos on the app — “His smile was very infectious,” Jonathan says — they quickly realized they were perfect together. “The conversation was so natural,” Brandon says about that first meeting. “We found we shared so many interests just talking.”

Celebrating differences

Brandon is a forensic scientist, and Jonathan is a freelance editor and host who covers all things fashion and LGBTQ. “We’re like polar opposites,” Brandon says. “We’re yin and yang, but we mesh really well together.”

He says they are both passionate about their careers and admire that in each other: “We both respect our hustle, our drive to be successful.”

Working from home meant they could travel between Virginia and New York to be with each other every now and then when their work schedules allowed. And that mix of being apart and together, they say, was a silver lining. “Quarantine was a make or break for many couples,” Jonathan says, “but it allowed us to be creative, to connect on a different level.”

That’s not to say there weren’t challenges, though, having to inhabit the same small apartment. Jonathan recalls recording an interview at home and asking Brandon to be quiet for a few minutes. The next thing he knew, Brandon was vacuuming, saying he was bored…

For his part, Brandon says, “We learned that we cannot live in a one-bedroom apartment!”

Keeping the spark alive

When they are apart, the pair make an effort to keep their relationship fresh. They arrange virtual date nights, order food for each other, and then have dinner together, watch favorite shows at the same time, and send cards and care packages as well as little gifts. “These are all just another way to get to know each other,” Jonathan says.

A united front

Their love for each other has strengthened them not only individually but as a couple as well. One powerful example: Each felt comfortable telling family members that he was gay once he had the committed support of his partner. “Being with Jonathan gave me the courage to finally open up with my family about my sexuality and my relationship status,” Brandon says.

Jonathan agrees: “While I had come out to my parents during my collegiate years, I never came out to my cousins, who are like siblings to me because we grew up together.” After he and Brandon had been dating for a year, he told them he was gay in a group chat about planning his birthday brunch and that he was inviting his boyfriend to celebrate with them.

“I let them know that if they felt uncomfortable and didn’t want to attend anymore, I totally understood,” Jonathan explains. “Immediately, everyone responded with support and celebrated Brandon and me, even without meeting him. I realize now that it was the bond Brandon and I had formed in a short time that made me comfortable to come out to the rest of my family, knowing I had his support, no matter what.”

The couple wants to build on that bond and continue to strengthen their relationship, and they are hopeful they’ll get to do that soon in closer proximity to each other. Brandon is searching for a job in the Northeast, so they are looking forward to enjoying life together — in person and all the time — before too long.

Set your heart aflutter with our series “Love Stories,” which features unique couples whose tales will inspire you to celebrate and #ShareYourLoveStory this Valentine’s Day. This story tells the tale of two inseparable friends who celebrate their love for each other on Galentine’s Day and every other day. #ShareYourLoveStory

Bhaavika Gaddam and Winnie Wang hit it off right away. They met almost three years ago while studying acting at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, and they have been pretty much inseparable since.

Gaddam and Wang originally connected because they were the only two girls of Asian descent in class, and they celebrated that by bonding over food. They would cook Indian and Taiwanese favorite foods for each other and learn more about their cultures. They are also both a year older than their classmates, and they believe that helped to cement their firm friendship as well.

Why Galentine’s Day works

Both Winnie and Bhaavika love the idea of Galentine’s Day, a celebration of female friendships that’s marked every Feb. 13. The holiday burst to the forefront when the Leslie Knope character in the TV show Parks and Recreation expressed her trademark enthusiasm for it and carried her friends along for the ride.

For their part, Bhaavika and Winnie use Galentine’s Day as an excuse to dress up and go out together, though they admit that the COVID-19 pandemic has modified their plans for this year somewhat. All things being equal, they were planning to invite a couple more friends to join the festivities this year.

An easy friendship

They are also quick to point out that even though they have now graduated and live 15 minutes apart instead of just across the street, theirs is a 365-day friendship. That means hanging out watching favorite shows together, or meeting up with two other close friends to try out a new dessert spot or catch the latest movie. It’s an easy, comfortable friendship that doesn’t need any bells and whistles or work.

“Having same-gender friends is very important,” says Bhaavika, “because we can celebrate each other and be there to support each other.” She adds, “Women just know how women function.”

Set your heart aflutter with our series “Love Stories,” which features unique couples whose tales will inspire you to celebrate and #ShareYourLoveStory this Valentine’s Day. This love story begins in the game room, but it grows quickly beyond their shared passion for video games.

Antonio Gordon first spotted Tatyani Lawton across a crowded room. No, their eyes didn’t meet, and there were no cartoon hearts blipping and flashing. She was too busy smoking competitors playing Antonio’s favorite video game. He was impressed.

Now, two years on, they are seniors: Lawton is majoring in graphic design, and Gordon is studying English and will be embarking on his master’s.

“We still play video games,” he says. “It’s a good way to connect when we’re not together.”

Gordon describes their relationship as “simple.” He quickly adds, “That might sound boring to some people, but it isn’t. I love how she sees me for who I am and allows me to be myself. It’s hard to find someone that accepting.”

Family bonding

Lawton explains that she really felt close to Gordon when she saw him with his relatives. “What drew me to Antonio was when I met his family and I was able to see a different side of him versus him at school with everyone else,” she says, “and I really loved that.”

“Our relationship isn’t perfect — we do have arguments and disagreements, but we always remember that communication is key,” she says. It’s clear that they are content to save the drama for the video games.

“Being that we are not always around each other, we play games online to stay connected,” Lawton says, “as well as watching movies together.”

Set your heart aflutter with our series “Love Stories,” which features unique couples whose tales will inspire you to celebrate and #ShareYourLoveStory this Valentine’s Day. This love story begins at a football game and a quick smooch on the kiss cam.

Sonia Debreczeni and Chaz Riddle were caught on the kiss cam at a football game in Baltimore five years ago. “I looked at her, she gave me the OK, and I kissed her,” Chaz explains. “It was a little flirty,” Sonia adds, smiling. Chaz says he has no idea why the camera operator settled on them, “But thanks, pal!”

They both agree that it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Sonia gave Chaz her number, and he texted her later to set up the first date.

Sometimes people go looking for love, but other times it just sneaks up and taps you on the shoulder. And of course, it’s this unpredictability that makes romance both nail-biting and, well, fun. On this occasion, Chaz was there as a football fan, while Sonia just showed up for the atmosphere — a friend had given her a free ticket.

When the kiss cam brought them together in front of the whole stadium that day, the couple, who had both been married previously, were living 30 miles apart, in Virginia and Maryland. Chaz planned out their date at the beach, starting with chocolates in the car for when he picked her up. “Yes, he seduced me with chocolate!” Sonia says with a laugh. “No,” Chaz corrects, “I wooed her with chocolate….”

When he took a kite out of the trunk and watched Sonia running on the beach with it and having fun, he says “sparks were confirmed.” He says that was the moment when he thought, “I could spend my life with this woman.”

For her part, Sonia says, “I felt like a teenager on a date!”

They shared some toasts to the future, and Chaz says it felt like “the first meeting never really ended.”

Perfect match

Family and friends were delighted with the match too, though Chaz reports that one of his friends did ask what Sonia saw in him, saying she was way out of his league. “I told him, ‘If I’d kissed you, you’d know!'”

Now they live in Chaz’s house in Maryland. “I crossed the river,” Sonia says. They still go to football games and love to travel, and Chaz built a horseshoe pit complete with tiki torches for when they’re relaxing at home.

“He’s the most thoughtful, caring, very sentimental man,” Sonia says. “It’s a very beautiful thing, especially when he looks for a card or a present, as it comes from the heart.”

“Sonia wears her heart on her sleeve,” Chaz says. “I know exactly what she’s thinking by looking at her face.”

For Valentine’s Day they always go for dinner somewhere they feel comfortable, and Chaz says he buys chocolates and gives her flowers. “He also bakes brownies,” Sonia says. “He’s a closet baker! One year he hand-cut them into heart shapes!”