“He’s an incredibly creative person,” Dwayne says. “That’s one of the things that I like from talking with him, just how knowledgeable about so much that he is. And I know he can surprise me and make me laugh at any moment, and being in a relationship where you can be laughing at any moment can be a lot of fun.”
Eric Pinder, who is an actor/director/writer, and Dwayne Smoot, who is a programmer/analyst, both met at a party that Eric wasn’t even going to originally attend.
“Strangely enough, I was supposed to do a show that evening, but it ended up being cancelled,” Eric says. “I thought, ‘Well, I guess I’ll go to this party,’ and I’m glad I did because that’s where I actually met Dwayne. I was wearing a hockey jersey – a Detroit Red Wings jersey – which is my home team, and Dwayne actually had a boyfriend previous who was also a Detroit Red Wings fan. He knew the Russian player [jersey] that I was wearing right away, so I thought ‘Wow, this guy knows a lot about hockey and is really cute.’”
Eric jokes he remembers thinking not to stare at him too long and ruin it.
Another connection they made at the party was when Eric asked Dwayne if he listened to opera and if he had heard of Strauss or the Ring Cycle. Dwayne said yes.
“Because I speak Russian and German, I had heard it before, and it was just yet another thing where we were able to bond about,” Dwayne says.
Eric had two tickets to They Might Be Giants, and none of his friends that he asked knew of the band. He figured since Dwayne was cute and they had a lot of common interests, he might like the concert and band and want to go. That ended up being their first date, and it turned out that Dwayne had actually seen them before in San Francisco.
They both soon realized they had a lot in common and this was something they both wanted to pursue. The couple moved in together about a year after they started dating and have been together ever since.
“I think the secret to our successful relationship is the fact that I’m always out rehearsing something,” Eric jokes. “He doesn’t really have that much time to get sick of me, because I’m always out in the evenings rehearsing some project or other.”
When it came to marriage, it only seemed natural for them to get married after being together for so long, and also because they were hopeless romantics.
“A few years ago, we went ahead, immediately after it was made legal, and became domestic partners in the City of Orlando,” Dwayne says. “It seemed natural to be married. It’s been denied to us for so long that the opportunity to do so is just a great moment for us.”
They tossed around a lot of ideas but ended up coming up with an idea using their shared interest – getting married at a hockey game.
Eric says he called the Solar Bears and asked their ticket guy if he and Dwayne could get married before a game. After being on hold for about two minutes, he came back and said, “Yeah, we can do that for you,” so the couple will be getting married on the ice prior to the game later at night.
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