Sex on a moving subway train

September 8, 2013 5:53 PM

Kenneth Leedom and Peter Cott have been together for 58 years. In a NYTimes article, they discuss their lives, from encounters with other men during World War II, gay bath houses in the 1970s, the AIDS epidemic, and their 2011 wedding, at the ages of 86 and 87.
posted by roomthreeseventeen (17 comments total)

Love those two! What a beautiful relationship.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:46 PM on September 8, 2013

Heart! What a pair. Very sweet.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:20 PM on September 8, 2013

Loved that, thanks for sharing.
posted by antiquated at 7:35 PM on September 8, 2013

I wish this story were longer! These two guys are great. And this part ... !

“Across the crowded room I saw the back of his head, and I thought, that looks kind of cute,” Mr. Leedom said. “He turned around and I said, yes, very cute. Love at first sight.”

And what did Mr. Cott think on that first glimpse?

“I’m going to bed him,” he remembered, smiling wickedly. Then he paused. “And I did.” Another pause. “And I still do.”

posted by barnacles at 7:58 PM on September 8, 2013 [6 favorites]

Yay for love
posted by anadem at 8:18 PM on September 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

That was adorable.

*happy tears*
posted by littlesq at 8:38 PM on September 8, 2013

That was a page-turner!
posted by Twang at 9:17 PM on September 8, 2013

What a sweet, heartwarming story.
posted by a halcyon day at 9:21 PM on September 8, 2013

Thanks for calling this out. A good love story, and a real one.
posted by samthemander at 9:40 PM on September 8, 2013

Great story, funny guys. If you can go 58 years and feel that way about someone I think you’ve got something going on.
posted by bongo_x at 10:01 PM on September 8, 2013

My heart is breaking.
posted by Nelson at 10:25 PM on September 8, 2013

They look like quite the pair. I'm both happy and sad for them. How do you continue on after you lose someone that you've lived with for that long?

But the fact that they’re all seniors is a fact you accept. You know that when you enter. One of the hard things — people are reluctant to get too close to someone, because you know they must die. It’s a temporary relationship with everybody.”

Ouch.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:57 PM on September 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm not a very social person. But I really miss socializing with older people. As the years go on, that just gets increasingly difficult. But then, I'm an age now that I would have called "older", not very long ago. It is ever thus. Dam it.
posted by Goofyy at 5:16 AM on September 9, 2013

Wow. That's an incredible romance right there. Good for them.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:32 AM on September 9, 2013

Wonderful.

One of my favorite couples finally got married recently - themselves also two men, who've been together over 20 years now, and finally married this spring in a spontaneous "flash mob" wedding on the stage where one of them is a dresser on Broadway. One of them spoke before they exchanged vows, saying that the biggest thing he ever wanted in a husband was: he wanted someone to whom he could turn to now and then and ask, "Do you remember when...?" and that other person actually would remember.

I wish Ken and Peter many more remember-whens.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:18 AM on September 9, 2013 [3 favorites]

Isn't this what all of us secretly wanted all along? You meet someone you find attractive, who is attracted to you; you don't fight; you get along easily, naturally; you so enjoy each other, you hardly notice the passage of time; your families accept each other; it is the two of you against the world. And the two of you win. Damn. These are brave and fortunate men.
posted by MoxieProxy at 4:10 PM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]

Big warm fuzzy moosh *awww* going on here right now. I can only hope that my own sweetie and I get 58 (or more! may they have many more!) happy years together.
posted by Lexica at 7:26 PM on September 10, 2013