LESHA & VANESSA
Queens, NY
Lesha, 53, transportation officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Vanessa, 46, media professional
Lesha and Vanessa first met on Fire Island in August 2013 while both were there with mutual friends. "As the day progressed," says Vanessa, "Lesha gravitated over to where I was sitting with the hope of finding a way to strike up a conversation with me. The rest is history." They say the key to their success is that they challenge and stretch one another, and try not to let issues get in the way. Of course, money is often a point of contention between couples, and Lesha and Vanessa have faced problems in this area. "Lesha is a spender and I´m a saver," says Vanessa. "We cannot tell you how many disagreements we´ve had over money and saving. There came a point when we almost broke up over it. We stepped back and asked ourselves, ´Are we really going to break up over money? Are we going to continue to argue over this at this point in our lives?´" Lesha says they decided their commitment was the most important thing. "[We] started having raw discussions about how we could fix it. The outcome was Vanessa manages our finances and developed a budget and savings plan that works for both of us." This August they will be married, exactly two years after they entered each other´s lives. Beyond that? "We want to have a deeper love, commitment and respect for one another. And do a lot of traveling!"
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