It was spring break when Andrew and I met in Florida. I was living and singing around Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. I had been working and living in the home of Ellen Burstyn. The Oscar winning actress for the film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” for over 3 years. From her example, she had helped me in many ways, from studying at the Actors Studio to the way I would learn for the rest of my life.
Andrew was in his sophomore year of his first college degree, at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and home for Christmas break. It was 1981. We met at the Marlin Beach Hotel; the hotel where the 1960 film “Where the Boys Are” was filmed and starred George Hamiltion, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, Connie Francis, Yvette Mimieux , Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin. Because of that film, the Marlin was a safe place for gay men and women to meet. It had become a hotel catering to gays and lesbians. We took our time and on the last night of his break, we went out for ice cream. When we came out of the ice cream shop with our cones, getting ready to get in the car, we looked across the car top where our eyes met and our souls opened up to each other and we have never been apart since. Love is a powerful thing.