1994 – James and Jonathan meet. Jonathan ran into an LGBTU meeting, dropped off a stack of party invites, and then bolted. Who is that guy?
1995 – Jonathan graduates, moves to Brooklyn, and works as an ERISA paralegal at Proskauer. James is finishing his last year at UVa.
1996 – J+J start dating (the postcard and mixtape wooing starts). James graduates, and Jonathan moves back to Charlottesville. We almost move to Atlanta, but on the return to Virginia, James tears up and says, “I’ve always wanted to live in New York.” In two months’ time, they move to Brooklyn.
1997 – J+J score a rent-controlled apartment in Park Slope (the Prospect Arms, which is a laughable name for an apartment that adjoins an industrial Laundromat). James works at Cornell Weill in pediatric hematology-oncology and later in development. Jonathan starts law school, while working full-time at Proskauer. Timboo the cat joins us.
1998 – Jonathan transfers to Georgetown, James takes the MCATs, we move to DC, and James starts working at Waterford Public Relations. We take an Oktoberfest journey to Munich.
1999 – We move to Glenayr in Arlington at 421 North Park Drive. James moves to Richmond and starts medical school.
2000 – Rachel and Jonathan publish the Annual Review. After law school graduation and studying for the bar, we head to Africa to spend seven weeks traveling overland between Nairobi and Victoria Falls. In the fall, Jonathan starts working at Groom Law Group.
2001 – We buy 440 Kentucky Avenue SE on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, and the renovations begin.
2002 – Jonathan starts working at the Sheet Metal Workers’ National Pension Fund and James starts consulting with the Federal Judiciary. Yoshitoshi the cat joins us.
2003 – Airfares to Hong Kong plummet after the SARS outbreak, and we jump on the opportunity to head to Asia. We purchase our first Hong Kong suit from Sam the Tailor and never look back from a bespoke life.
