Today’s Video Story was collected on the 50-state Story Tour. Check out the blog where you can read about the adventure we had and some of the stories we collected. If you haven’t submitted a story yet to IFD, or if you want to submit another one, I’d love to read and publish it. Write one up and send it in.
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(Stanley): Essie Scoffield, Stanley, my friends call me. I’m originally from Los Angeles, California and moved to Hawaii five years ago. (Laura): My name is Laura Belding, I’m originally from Vermont but I’ve lived in Hawaii for ten years and I currently live in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. 1999, Los Angeles, we were at a little coffee house called Little Frida’s in West Hollywood and I was with somebody else but Laura was sitting at a corner table and she was reading a book and I just happened to glance over and she looked up and she smiled at me. Laura’s got a great smile (laughter). So, we just had that instantaneous contact and that was it. (Laura): To be honest the one difficult thing about Hawaii is that it’s rather expensive and I was here in a relationship for many years, but after that ended I really would have liked to of lived alone for a little while but it was not financially possible so I immediately started looking for roommates. But I wanted to be comfortable, I wanted to either live with a gay man or a butch femme or somebody who I could be myself, you know, when I came home. So I really targeted that community for a roommate but in doing so I exhausted all the local resources and I still didn’t have a roommate and meanwhile rent’s getting due and I’m starting to get nervous, so I started going on a national level as well. Saying “Hey, is anybody out there want to live in Hawaii? I really need to find somebody that I feel comfortable with to live?” Somebody answered. And after we started interacting on-line I recognized that we had gone to this closing at Little Frida’s and I knew exactly who Stan was. And especially references to old businesses and things like that, I said, “Oh, I know who you are.” (Stan): I’d never really left L.A., and it was time for a change. I was single and we really clicked and my feeling was – pretty much what Laura is saying is that, worse case scenario we’d be really good friends but I don’t know – I had a little twinkle in my eye for her, I must say. It turned out nicely. I cannot say I have any regrets. It turned into a wonderful relationship. (Laura) Yeah, it did. (Stan): We’re getting back to politics. We’re looking forward to our new governor who said he’s going to sign civil unions into law that will, in essence, make Laura and I family which is something that I have dreamed of since I was a little baby dyke. (Laura:) Yeah.