"One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“Love is patient; Love is kind” is a scripture I remember hearing when I was growing up, and now being married, I have a better appreciation of the meaning. Love also can be lost, and it also can be found again.
My next subjects are a colorful couple with high energy about them when you see them, and pictures, including the ones I captured, don’t do their chemistry justice. Marquez and Marie are a couple I was able to observe via Instagram, but I realized that we had a few degrees of separation that would allow us to meet and build rapport in the real world.
Without further ado, meet Marquez and Marie. Both had lived life and had some experiences before they met each other. They are two big personalities that cohesively fit, and their love and adoration for each other also reflect it.
Who Was Marie Before Marquez?
I always am and always will be just Marie. I was fresh out of a very long marriage that was unhealthy at a minimum. I am also a vice president for a financial institution, so I’m busy, and I have three children. So I was back on the dating scene when I met Quez. I wasn’t honestly looking for a relationship, and I was actively dating, but there was just something about him that stuck. I had to do a lot of work in the beginning of our relationship because I still had a lot of carryover from my prior one, but I can honestly say now that I am in a much better place. Quez is my peace, he’s my happy place and biggest thing that I am truly happy about is that our relationship has no suffering. No cheating, no disrespect… Just pure healthy love and it’s such an amazing feeling to have a true partner without all the toxic background to look back on. He’s a true partner and although that fool is lucky to have me....I know how lucky I am to have him.
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If you had to describe your partner/spouse in one word, what would it be? Why did you choose this word?
MK: I would say “fierce”. I say fierce because she is someone who in almost any situation can handle things. She is a tough cookie.
MC: “Home“ Because to me home is more of a feeling, like a safety net and that’s what he feels like to me.
The saying goes, “opposites attract.” What are the unique differences between you and your partner/spouse?
MK: I think I’m more transparent, I am someone who you are going to know exactly how I feel at a granular level. Marie is a bit more guarded. She may not give you all the flare “she said what she said” lol.
MC: I think we actually have a lot of similarities, but if I were to focus on our differences I would say that I am much more reserved than he is.
What three things do you and your partner/spouse have in common?
MK: We both love to travel, We love to shop, We love to eat!
MC: The three things we have in common are we love to shop, travel and we can spend long stretches of time just talking about anything.
What is the trait your partner/spouse has that you value most?
MK: I like that she is dependable, strong. I know I can give her the ball and 9 out of 10 times she is going to be able meet whatever objective we need to meet without me second guessing her.
MC: His word. His word is his bond. If he says he’s going to be there, that he’s going to do it or take care of it… It’s basically done.
Who was influential in providing good advice to you and your partner/spouse when giving relationship advice?
MK: I think we both rely on her friend Shay for advice. I think she knows us both well enough to have perspective on us personally. Outside of that, we see a relationship counselor. To me, our counselor is a good way to build a strong foundation through healthy practices.
MC: I don’t think we’ve gone to anyone together for relationship advice, but I do credit my best friend with helping me through situations with Quez that I don’t often see clearly as I’m too close to the situation.
Who was Marquez before Marie?
Honestly, before Marie, I was active on the dating scene. I'm tall, have a decent personality and have all my teeth, so it was going pretty well. 😂 Honestly, my professional life was really what I was focusing on at the time. Things weren’t going particularly well and that was taking up the bulk of my time. Then, I met Marie. I’m a firm believer that if something is important to you, you will make the time. so its EXACTLY what I did. I’m a firm believer in LEADING WITH A PLAN. I focused on making sure we cultivated a culture of communication, affection, and fun. Years later I’m just as focused on those things like its day 1. I am a lucky guy.
If you could travel to any time period with your partner/spouse, which era would you choose to live in?
MK: I would love to travel to the 70’s and live.
MC: Well as you know with being black if we go back in time we have even less rights than we have now. I guess I would like to say during the civil rights era just so we might have been able to participate in the march on Washington and things of that nature. Nothing beats living through the Barack Obama presidency though.
Do you remember the first date? Explain it from your perspective.
MK: Yes, our first date was a few years back in February. It was an unusually warm day, so we decided to have brunch outside. We sat and talked about work and life for a few hours. A memorable moment was when the wind blew, and the entire pitcher of water spilled on the table. Some of the water landed on my new timberland boots. I had the water repellent on them, so I was cool about it. I think Marie liked that.
MC: Yes I remember our first date. Quez invited me to brunch at simply crepes. He slid in my DM’s and gave me his number and asked for the date pretty quickly. During the day I didn’t even really feel like it was a date if I’m being honest. I felt like I was having brunch with my homeboy because at one point during brunch she did threaten to stab me because he thought I had eaten too much chicken out of our shared appetizer.
What was the best moment in your relationship so far?
MK: The best moment (in hindsight) would be our trip to Spain. I think we have a few stories we could tell for the rest of our lives.
MC: The best moment in our relationship so far is hard to pick. Honestly we have so many really good moments. He’s probably going to pick something different than what I would say but for me I think our best moment was our trip to Mexico City for his birthday. I just had such a good time with him on that trip and then our last night there I got sick and he went out to get me Ginger ale and medicine and I just knew I can always count on him.
Marquez and Marie were a delight to shoot and I would like to thank them for participating in the project and also stay tuned for the next entry!
