ISA & NANETTE
East Village, NYC and Sag Harbor, NY
Isa, 61, theater critic/voice-over actor
Nanette, 67, psychotherapist
Here´s an unusual couple, who, having stood the test of time, have built a wonderful life together. "We met in 1984 at a party," say Nanette and Isa. Nanette was in deep conversation with a poet, and they were ignoring all others. The two got another chance almost a year later, while attending a party thrown by a lesbian dominatrix. Afterwards, Isa carried Nanette´s Sunday Times for her as she walked her home. "It felt like junior high," says Nanette. After "27 years of blissfully living in sin" the couple married when it became legal in New York. "It was primarily because we wanted to be counted, and we wanted the advantages that a legal marriage brings. The formality was just that—it did not hold much sentimentally for us. The big romantic event really came when we became domestic partners 17 years earlier." They find unique ways to keep their relationship sexy, like the time Nanette asked Isa out for dinner, but instead drove her to a motel where champagne, pate, and cheap lingerie were waiting. Another time, Isa suggesting a nature walk, lured Nanette into a "quickie" by a brook. Still, they realize life can´t always be spontaneous, or hold such surprises, and that´s all right because day-to-day life can be pretty fantastic as well. "It´s comforting to know that your honey is beside you and that you can trust her to care for you in every way." So there is an upside to familiarity!
What Do You Think?