Together Forever by Eric Marcus

Traveling across the United States, Eric Marcus met and interviewed forty gay and lesbian couples who have achieved the dream of a happy, lasting relationship. InTogether Forever, Marcus writes about their lives and the secrets to long-term happiness these couples have learned over the nine to fifty years they've been together. FromTogether Forever: On Meeting: 'I said to myself, 'That's it. ' I don't know what 'it' was, but there was just something that was apparent to me right then--it was just a very deep sense of recognition that something was there that you had looked for all of your life. And it was there when you least expected it. '--Anyda, eighty-six On Difference: 'The icing on the cake was after we had sex, after this very lovely experience with Curt, he said, 'Do you want milk and cookies?' And I thought, He's like a big girl, you know? And we're sharing vanilla wafers and milk in bed. And I finally got it at that point. That leather coat, the jeans, everything, it was just a fashion statement. '--Brian, thirty-five On Monogamy: 'I really believed in nonmonogamy as an ideal...I still think if we worked really hard on making nonmonogamy work, we could probably do it, but I can probably learn Chinese, too. Look, I'm a vegetarian, but I still have a leather couch. No one's perfect.'--Lindsy, fifty-two On What Makes a Happy Relationship: 'I feel that it's the same secret between a gay couple or a lesbian couple as a heterosexual couple. It's sharing. It's giving a little, taking a little. Because if everything is going to be only about me, me, me, it's not going to be a good relationship. '--Stewart, forty-four Most people long for a lasting love relationship. The couples inTogether Foreverhave found it. Their experiences offer lessons to us all.