When I was 18, I came back to New York, to Brooklyn.
My father got me a furnished room.
And I got a job the second day I was back - at Otis Elevator.
While I was on the job, I noticed there was a gay guy.
He was about 32 years old, very chunky.
Didn't turn me on.
I wasn't interested in him.
But I knew he was interested in me.
I started going to the bars, hoping I could meet somebody there.
But my problem was after two drinks, I was not able really, basically, to have sex with
anybody.
And I felt that was unfair to that person and certainly something that was a waste of
my time.
So anyway, to continue with the story at Otis, my friend - he became a good friend of mine
- and I know that he wanted to see me naked.
He just made that known.
So he asked me if I had ever been to the turkish baths.
I said no.
He took me to the baths.
And that was the key as far as I was concerned about meeting people, seeing people, having
sex with a number of people.
And I went there for close to three-and-a-half years thinking maybe something was wrong with
me because that was not the place where you met somebody who you could go home with and
maybe have a relationship with.
Well, one night I was there and Bill Campbell, who had never been the baths before, was taken
there by a guy he worked with.
And he showed up and he said that when he saw me standing by steam room, he said to
himself, "This is what I've been waiting for."
So he came over and he chatted with me, and we went to the back of the baths and he said,
"Would you like to come home with me?"
And I said, "Sure."
And I went home with him.
We took the subway up to Washington Heights.
And he opened the door and as soon as he went in he turned the light on.
And there was this painting by René Magritte called "Empire of Light" and I saw it
and I said to myself, "This is like an epiphany."
This is like something so special that I was home with this beautiful man and this beautiful
painting was the first thing I saw.
I went in there and we sat and chatted for about an hour and basically it was the most
wonderful experience that I'd ever had with anybody.
We had a wonderful evening of sex.
I spent the night with him.
I woke up the next morning and he was not in bed with me.
I wondered, "Where is he?
Where is he?"
I got up and went to the kitchen and he was making me a three-course breakfast - bacon
and eggs, porridge, oatmeal, great coffee.
And there he was and there I was and we had this wonderful breakfast.
And he said, "Have you ever heard of Gustav Mahler?"
I said, "No.
Who is he?"
He said, "Well, he wrote the most wonderful concert called 'The Titan.'"
And we went to the living room and he put on this vinyl record of Gustav Mahler's
"The Titan."
I immediately fell in love with it - first classical piece I had really ever paid attention
to.
A little later, he said, "Have you been to the Cloisters?"
I said, "What's the Cloisters?"
So he took me up to the Cloisters in Washington Heights and they have a concert there every
Sunday.
I was just overwhelmed by his intelligence and the cultural life he had and understood.
I could see all the books that he had.
We had the most wonderful time up there.
After it was over, we walked through the park and he said, "I have to go play a tennis
game with a friend of mine."
And he said, "Give me your phone number."
I didn't have a phone so I got his phone number.
He said, "Give me a call on Wednesday."
I called him on Wednesday.
He said, "What're you doing this weekend?"
I was hoping he would ask me that.
I went up to his apartment after work and we spent the weekend together and basically
from that time on, we were never apart.
The first three weeks, I used to go there, I would go home into Brooklyn to get my casual
clothes for the weekend.
And he said, "Why don't you bring your clothes here and you can come directly from
work."
And like I said, that's when we began - that's when we began our relationship.
I always felt that I was not quite up to his level of intelligence and cultural knowledge
- and he was nine years older than me.
But that didn't make any difference.
We knew right away that we were meant for each other.
We were together 54 wonderful, glorious years.
On his last day, he said to me "John, I have never been happier."
And that's exactly the way I felt.
It was his last gift to me.
Imagine that.
On someone's last day, they would tell you that?
It's been my comfort and my - it's just given me a whole new reason to be joyful and
celebrate my life with him that continues - he's my inspiration and always will be.
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