Jordan Daniel Brown,
is how I met you; One year ago, today. On the night we first connected, I knew I’d write about you soon. The story I’ve been dying to tell; Our love until death does do us part. My love, how I love you, with every bit of my body and being. To be yours and all yours, and you mine and all mine, is a dream that’s now realized; a fantasy fully fulfilled! This story, my love, is for you.
—
With the goal of being single for all of ’24, I meditated in peace — omitting desire for romantic relations. One day, years from here, everything will turn romantic, but I was intent to display my love, offering it only to myself. I reconnected myself to past experiences, found beauty in loves of yesteryear, and sought honesty through all my actions, wants and needs. Self-romanticization continued, even as I met and fell for you. A relationship — hell, even the idea of a date — as neither of our goals, yet as our love grew generously, our souls inflamed in intimacy, and the romance of myself, erupted unto you:
[JUNE] Sonic Cherry Limeade On A Stark White Shirt
[JULY] Playing Cards And Smoking At The Park
[AUGUST] Squish Teddiursa With Four Days Apart
[SEPTEMBER] Mucus Plug In A Porcelain Bowl
[OCTOBER] A Wizard-ing World Cast Upon My Virgin Eyes
[NOVEMBER] Family Jewels On I-35; RuPaul, Lawrence Chaney, & Two Front-Row Fags; Meeting The Family Where I Took My First Steps; A Love Meant For Life & The Best Of Our Bets; & Our Grand Welcome Home
—
NOVEMBER 6TH, 2025 – FAMILY JEWELS ON I-35
You mentioned Marcia – your grandma – on our first night together, and how critical she had been in your childhood. She is one of our many entwinements. Like me, Marcia wasn’t quite liked upon first-glance, first-meet, or anytime thereafter; She was liked or she wasn’t, and I heard that feature of herself in me. You recognized her shortcomings, while honoring how she cared for you in your times of need; Like her, I knew myself to be imperfect, but I could only hope you’d care for me too.
With an untraditional family of your sort, I was unsure who may connect such associations between her and myself. Fortunately, she and I are more different than we are alike. Still, I was honored when you told me I would receive her wedding ring. When we awoke on the morning of November 6th, after the election had been called, you may not have told me where you were headed, but I knew exactly where you were going.
I could not wait to meet you there.
We found ourselves in Kansas City that afternoon, taking care of personal errands. Readying to leave towards Lawrence, I was in the driver’s seat, Everything is Romantic in our ears. I had plenty of time to prepare, but I had always envisioned that I would be the one to propose; I had never planned on being proposed to – and my consciousness flooded: “I guess I never planned on any of this… I didn’t plan to date you; To fall for you; To be yours; For you to be mine; For our country to fail us; To be wed in Vegas; To be wed to a man.” I was ready for you, though, and you were ready for me.
Nothing had gone according to plan, but everything finally felt right. Everything felt romantic. Your words, they’re mine – they’re yours – just ours. I cherish you, Jordan. I never planned to receive your Family Jewels On I-35. Perhaps, you hadn’t planned on being my shotgun rider.
Without hesitation, I said yes. Marcia’s ring, needing resized, fit perfectly on the chain around my neck. We raced back to Lawrence, stopping on Massachusetts Street to buy each other’s engagement ring. The remainder of our day was spent holding hands, kissing the other, and making arrangements to be wed in Las Vegas only a few short days later.
—
NOVEMBER 8TH, 2025 – RUPAUL, LAWRENCE CHANEY, & TWO FRONT ROW FAGS
We flew Red-Eye Spirit to and from Las Vegas; If we were eloping, we wanted the fullest of experience. With one carry-on and one personal item each, we hopped off the plane LAS with a slot machine in front of us, tickets to RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!, a cousin’s wedding the next day, and an appointment booked to get our marriage certificate. We traveled to the Strat, where we dropped our luggage with the concierge, and started walking towards The Strip – not the smartest of our ideas.
Luckily for us, it was hardly 10am and Las Vegas was just beginning to shut their eyes. With a lull on The Strip and hours before we could check-in, we spent the morning walking The Strip, stopping in nearly every hotel we passed. We started at Circus, Circus, where I witnessed you view the exorbitant campiness of Las Vegas for the first time. As we passed Resorts World, we made a note to ourselves to come back before we left – Tana Mongeau stays at Resorts World, and we would not miss our chance to live like Tana. We never did venture back, but it’s on our list of must-sees when we return next month. Arriving at The Strip, proper, we stopped first in the Venetian; After the excitement you shared for Vegas’s family-resort, I needed to share the attraction geared more towards our love: The Canals at The Venetian.
On its own, the Venetian is gorgeous: The building herself, her fountains even under their construction, the upscale shoppes, and a cleaner casino. We toured it all, before arriving at her grand beauty. The Canals at the Venetian can compare only to you. Creating grins larger than your face; Making eyes larger than life, looking at the interior sky; Dropping mouths agape, reflecting in the water below. Even bright in the morning, the canal singers sang soundly; Soundtracking our love, as we explored it all together.
Continuing south down The Srip, we passed through The Linq, its Promenade, and found ourselves at the Flamingo. Weaving in and out, I ventured us to the Flamingo Gardens, stopping to name the flamingos, ‘FAGGOTS!’, since no kids were near. When we entered back inside the resort, we ran directly into the reason we were there: My cousin, Mariah, would be married the next day! I introduced you to her – yes, the day before her wedding – and we chatted for a moment, before vowing to come back later!
From the Flamingo, we hailed a Lyft, riding towards The Strat to grab our luggage, and then onto Fremont. We relaxed, showered the travel off, perhaps took a nap, grabbed a bite and a bit of pregame. Our engagement gift, from Alyx, would be experienced by us that night: tickets to RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!… and unbeknownst to us, those tickets were front row seats. Our Lyft back to the Flamingo, a memory for the books: A driver from Los Santos – GTA5 – in Rush-Friday-Vegas-Traffic.
Drag race on our TVs, a near-nightly experience that we always cherish. We snap, we clap, we scream at the queens that we love through the screen. Remove the glass, pull back the curtain: A lot of ass and even more pussy-purring. Their live show – the catwalk behind us, our feet touching front of stage – was beautiful, gorgeous, but the plot was lost on us. Because pre-the-final-act, participation put on the audience, and the front row fags? Well, we were asked on stage. Lawrence Chaney pulled us up, perhaps she knew: we were off our ass. She asked us why we’re in Vegas, and for the first time, on display, we announced: “We’re here to be wed! Sunday is the day!”
The crowd erupted, and congratulations were given to us. At RuPaul’s Drag Show, surrounded by strangers, we felt an unconditional support; one unbeknown to us. This show – it changed our trip, as the audience remembered us. Following the show, the next day, and at the airport when we left: strangers stopped us suddenly, took a second-look, confirming we were who they thought, then congratulated us on our nuptials, before we each continued on.
—
NOVEMBER 9TH, 2025 – MEETING THE FAMILY WHERE I TOOK MY FIRST STEPS
Our second day in Las Vegas was one not centered upon us. We got breakfast on our own, and by afternoon arrived at the Flamingo, where a picturesque wedding was soon to be had. Lofted up some dozens of floors, our time in the Bridal Suite, where my beautiful cousin, Mariah, was getting glammed and stunning-gorgeous – Today was her Lovely Wedding Day!
Most of the day we spent chatting, sharing stories and our memories, with her guests popping in and out. You met some of my family, the ones who would soon become your own. We loved to watch the love, shared within, amongst, and throughout: ‘Welcome to the Family’; Stepping into new cycles; The Sphere in the sunset; A cathartic, supportive, cousin-hug; Tears falling to The Imperial March; A bit tipsy on The Promenade; Aunt Naniese’s name, you can’t pronounce.
A sinless day spent sharing love in Sin City.
—
NOVEMBER 10TH, 2025 – A LOVE MEANT FOR LIFE & THE BEST OF OUR BETS
How could I explain the most beautiful of my days? I’ll most certainly try, but please be forgiving; these words not yet exist, but I would be damned to omit.
Our sun shined brighter, our alarms sounded sweeter. We walked to the courthouse, a breeze kissing interlaced fingers. Affirmation of identity, consent, and intent; “Would you like the certificate Standard or Themed?”
With hours to spare, we honored our last moments unmarried. We arrived at the WestGate, with time to find our secret chapel. We sat down, shared a burrito, drank some water, and calmed each other. It still hadn’t set in: We were minutes from being wed.
We entered into our intimate venue, ready to crystalize the love we hold. Our guests, there were two: The Officiant and Witness, in addition to me and you. The chapel herself, neither crystal nor larger than 300 feet square. It was raw, and unedited; Honest, feral, emotional; Quivering lips, flooding eyes, and vows with words to spare. We knew this was the first, not the last, of our Wedding Days, yet still, it feels quite resonant: Our love, on its own, is all it takes; Our love is ours to share.
Celebration soon followed, weights shifted to our fingers. Buttholes clenching, looking up at the Luxor; Wishing on a Bellagio Jet; Gay Paris across the street; And the New York Skyline on the horizon. Cruising through another casino; Free drinks back at The Apache; Window shopping from the hotel room; Making love in renaissance. My arm wrapped around your shoulders, my hand laid upon your heart:
“Happy Wedding Day, my love.”
is what we’ll repeat until death do us part.
—
NOVEMBER 13TH, 2025 – OUR GRAND WELCOME HOME
My sister – now, your sister-in-law – was intent on taking us to dinner after we returned from Vegas. Little did we know that she had enlisted the help of our dearest, Alyx, to create a dinner welcoming you to our family; Welcoming us to the home we’ll build together, as us, forevermore. No label exists for the homecoming dinner thrown for us; It was a wedding shower of sorts – drenching us with love and comfort from critical family supports.
We nostalgically look upon our past and long to see our lives now through the same vivid lens of our inner child: pure, bright, glowing, and ever-growing.
The imagery of our homecoming remains this way; The imagery of Las Vegas enshrined in fantasticality; The imagery of our love forever mastered in the newest technicolor.
—
Jordan Daniel Katsbulas,
My love, how I love you, my words feel such abysmal dearth. I am speechless yet full of reverence; my seams and how they meet yours.
These posts; Our Love; All the time that we share; My vows to you, eternally, I long for you to hear.
When everything is romantic, only we could bring us down.
Vanish into one another.
You’re my golden, burning sun.
I’ll be your shotgun rider, and you, my lucky strike.
Our love is much too sacred
to be scarfed down; swallowed whole; or overdosed.
Our love exists in lozenges,
dissolving slowly, in their mouths.
Jordan Daniel Katsbulas.
That’s how I know you now; What a dream it is to have my name be yours.