How have you found love here in Portland?
We asked our readers that question to kick off this month’s Real Talk series on finding romance in our city. Here are a few of our favorite responses:
“I met my boyfriend on Grindr on July 4, 2015. We’re getting married this year on July 5. #codependenceday”
—LS
“We were walking away from East Glisan Pizza and I told him that I felt like I sold him a bill of goods before we got married and I didn’t deliver. He stopped walking, pizza in hand, and told me he didn’t marry me for what I could do for him. He married me because of who I am. Suddenly I was even more in love with him — and a little bit back in love with myself for being the kind of person a man like this would marry for no reason except that I am me.”
—Marina Martinez-Bateman
“I moved to Portland a year ago. I dated someone for seven months and we broke up after summer. He died at the beginning of 2019. He wrote me a letter before he died, and at the end of it, he wrote: ‘P.S. Please do not hook up with anyone from my funeral!’ I can’t help but wonder about this. I happened to meet a nice man at his funeral who wants to date me, yet I hold back because of that letter.”
—Gina Lee
“My husband and I met at Good Samaritan hospital. I was working as an occupational therapist, and he was a surgery intern. I went to evaluate an elderly woman he’d operated on to see if she could take care of herself at home. I walked into the room and said, ‘Mrs. Smith, I hear you live alone.’ She replied: ‘Yes, unless you know any young, single men who would like to live with me.’ My future husband then entered the room and said, ‘Mrs Smith, I’m single.’ She very quickly replied, ‘Ah honey, you put your name on a list.’ He and I talked for a while afterward and went to a Zoo concert the next week. We’ve now been married 13 years.”
—Emily Moore
“On our third date, the 2016 snowpocalypse hit and I was stranded at her place. We went to get coffee, but on the way, we decided to grab her neighbors’ cat ornament off their doorstep and take pictures of it around the city. It was the weirdest and best date I have ever been on. We’ve been inseparable ever since. And in case you’re wondering, Petunia (the porcelain cat) was returned home with a scrapbook of her Portland adventures.”
—Devin Hutchings
“After two years recovering from a car accident, I was finally back on a bike. Not just any bike, but a brand-new, glittery, pink, commemorative dream-bike. Imagine my surprise when on it’s third ride, I was stranded on the corner of Williams and Weidler on a blazing-hot August evening with a mysteriously broken dream-bike. My frustration was interrupted by a deep voice asking if I could use a hand. He graciously fixed my bike. I offered to buy him a beer. He moved in six months later, and we’re getting married this August.”
—Lindsay Benedict
“I met him in freshman-year Algebra class, where we would play hangman together. We were friends for two years until we found out we liked each other! We’ve been dating ever since (from 16 to 26 years old), and we’ve watched each other grow and experience so much! Being with your best friend is honestly awesome. It’s sappy but true.”
—Samantha Braga