America’s Most Captivating Couples 2008
Newton, Massachusetts
Jennifer Chrisler, 37, Executive Director, Family Equality Council
Cheryl Jaques, 45, Lawyer, Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kesten
Jennifer and Cheryl met almost 15 years ago when Jennifer got involved in Cheryl’s campaign for state senate. They were friends for five years before they started dating. As the Executive Director of the Family Equality Council (formerly Family Pride), Jennifer fights for the rights of all loving families, regardless of blood relation or sexual orientation. In addition to being a lawyer, Cheryl is the former head of the Human Rights Campaign. They are the proud parents of two sons, Tom and Tim, age five. “We love spending time with our kids, playing checkers, go fish and Connect Four. For gown-up fun, we love going to estate sales to find treasures, and taking long walks together,” says Jennifer. Their secret: “We try to remember to attack our problems instead of each other. Whenever we face adversity in our lives, we remain focused on what we are trying to solve instead of getting angry with each other about the situation we’re in. It also helps to have a good sense of humor, and to laugh together often.”
The results are in! After a grueling selection process, we’ve skimmed the sweet cream off this year’s batch of entries and whipped it into GO’s most captivating couples of 2008. Many more couples coming soon!
Lisa & Lu
Cumberland, Maryland
Lisa Nelson, 48, School Principal
Dr. Lucia Barker, 48, Scientist
“If we’re captivating at all, it’s because we captivate each other,” Lu and Lisa explain. “That, plus we met at a potluck. We are the potluck success story to which women refer when encouraging single friends to get out there and meet people.” Lu was so smitten at that fateful potluck affair that when Lisa mentioned her new jet-ski, Lu invited herself over to try it. Eventually, Lu won Lisa over with her charm and her cooking, if not with her jet-ski ability. “We’ve been together almost five years now, married for more than two,” says this captivating couple. Lu and Lisa keep their love alive with “a combination of hearts-and-flowers romanticism and hard-line pragmatism, but never both at the same time!” The secret to their success: “Both of us want, more than anything else, to make the other happy. It’s not a secret, by the way.”
