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!
Kelly & Elise
New York, New York
Kelly Kane, 27, Local Program Manager, Alloy Media & Marketing
Elise Carlson, 24, Assistant Manager, Alloy Media & Marketing
Kelly and Elise are both from the same town in upstate New York, but it wasn’t until they moved to NYC that they met through Elise’s sister. “It works great because we get to see our families during the holidays and also spend time with each other.” Kelly is a sports fiend and die-hard Giants fan who plans to become a New York State Trooper. Elise is passionate about music, and hopes for a career in music supervision. The couple loves spending time with their boxer, Diz, reading books to each other and traveling. “We’ve backpacked through Peru for two weeks, jumped on a plane to the Bahamas for a long weekend, and rented a house on the Jersey Shore all last summer.” More importantly, “we make time for other people in our lives as well as ourselves and each other, and that’s the best way to keep a healthy relationship strong.”
