Chris Habana & Richard R. Henry Prove Love Doesn’t Have To Be Difficult

Chris Habana, Jewelry Designer

I met Richie on Growlr, which is like Grindr but for bigger men and the men who love them. Richie is a bigger man, and I'm a man who loves bigger men. Everything with us has been so easy. With all of the guys before him, there was always a sense of drama -- the guys I was picking ranged from being a little bitchy to big assholes. I don't know if this is an age thing, but when some people start dating, they are often prone to picking people that are mean to them or they look for some sort of friction, because they think that aggression equals fire, which means passion.

Prior to meeting Richie, I'd be like, Oh, this is just what happens. I'd never been with someone who was so nice. He definitely thinks about me. And everything was very reciprocal to the point where I wanted to do good by him. Usually when meeting nice people, guys get turned off because it's too easy or the person's too available. Richie was all that. He was very easy and very available.

Richard R. Henry, Actor
In movies and plays, saying "I love you" is such a big, monumental moment. But I can barely remember the first time I said it because it came very naturally to us. It wasn't like, Oh, God, I'm going to say it today. It was very easy to say, and he reciprocated very quickly. As you get older, things get a little clearer, and what you wanted when you were younger changes.

We joked about getting married because he really wanted to get on my health insurance. It was kind of a no-brainer. We did the City Hall thing in the morning, which is a very interesting process because it's like going to the DMV, but women are wearing bridal gowns. Stupidly, we thought we could say vows to each other at the ceremony. They have a little room that looks like a nondenominational chapel with a guy standing behind the podium, and I said, "We'd love to say a few things to each other," and he replied, "Oh, we don't have time for that."

Photography: Menelik Puryear