About Scott
Classification – homo sapiens; male; 43 years old, endomorphic body composition; large bone structure. Subject display particular skill in providing sustenance to those around him; also appears to be skilled in using his hands to manipulate the soft tissues of other’s bodies to…. Whoops! Wrong report.
I am an “only” child, born to my parents Peter and Betty in July 1970. I grew up in a small town in the central part of Vancouver Island, British Columbia called Port Alberni. I grew up as a very busy kid – between school, choir, Scouting (Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers), and many other extracurricular activities. I was lucky in my growing up to travel to several places in Canada – including Ottawa where I got my first taste of “eastern Canada” life. I attended Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia and as a part of which worked for a year on a work-experience in Tokushima, Japan. After graduating, I moved to Toronto to pursue studies at the University of Toronto. It was a short while after I had finished my Master’s degree that I met Iain… and the rest as they say is history.
The story so far… according to Scott
Having moved to Toronto in September 1994, not knowing a soul here except for the one person I had chatted with on-line for a while. I dove right into my studies, and eventually began to chat on the early predecessor of the now various and ubiquitous chat systems. I found an area in that chat system that catered to gay men and eventually got chatting with this rather sexy younger guy (I was 26, he was 23) that was from the general Toronto area but was studying for a degree in Ottawa. I suggested we meet up and at least say hello to each other during Pride that year as he was coming to take part. He kinda brushed me off (later telling people that I was a “creep”), but I kept an eye out for him. Once I saw him, I went over and said hello, and after that we were virtually inseparable for the remaining few days of that Pride festival. Thus the entity known as “Scott&Iain” or the related one of “Iain&Scott” was born.
For the next 6 months, we both saw buses, trains and planes as we travelled back and forth to visit each other. Iain moved back to Toronto in September, but we however took our time (about 1.5 years) in the process of getting to know each other and making a very deliberate decision to hold off on moving in together right away. We wanted to do it “right”. Eventually we found our first apartment together and lived there for 6.5 years. Needing a bit of a “reset” from city life, we moved out to Milton to live for approximately 2 years. We came to find that the commute was not working so well for us and decided to make plans to move back into the city. Working out the numbers, it made sense to us at that point to purchase something instead of rent. I happened to speak to a couple on the bus one day to find they were selling their condo, and a very short time later, we looked at it, loved it, and bought it within about 10 days of first meeting them. The last 6 years of owning our own place, dealing with all of the fun of that has been fun and challenging. Iain’s work schedule increasing took him away on business a fair amount particularly in the most recent two years. With a healthy dose of craziness, we embarked as of January not only into planning our wedding, but also contracting for renovations of 2 areas of our condo (the kitchen and laundry room). Needless to say, we survived, and are happy to be at the point we are in our lives with great families that accept us as we are, and beloved friends and loved ones who are a part of our lives.
About Iain
Son, partner, geek, mentor, brother, consultant, Bear, composer, gaymer, loyal, introvert, Newfie, traveller. Depending on which angle you look at it from, I’m either the youngest of 4, 2, or 5 having been traded within the first week of my life in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Toronto and Milton were our next stops, putting down roots and creating total mayhem for our grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins.
A severe case of restless leg syndrome lead me to Ottawa, Canada where I studied at Carleton University; Norwich, England where I spent a year at the University of East Anglia; and Frankfurt, Germany between 1993 and 1997 before returning back to Toronto, being attacked by a gaggle of Bears and finding the cure in Scott. 16 years later, you’re celebrating with us,
I spent a lot of time behind my Commodore 64 and Amigas programming, gaming and experimenting with early digital media. My interest in sport developed in late high school where I started playing Rugby, and a short two year experiment with Highland Games and Strongman in the early 2000s. Iain has more recently spent time volunteering with the AIDS Committee of Toronto and as a titleholder representing Eastern Canada within the gay community and beyond.
The story so far… according to Iain
Most of you know me as a relatively upbeat guy who is always smiling. It was May 1997 – I was sitting in my room, living in Ottawa chatting on Internet Relay Chat. Having come out the year before while studying in England, I wanted nothing more than to get out of school and start living life. I was planning to head to Toronto for Pride and was chatting with this guy with a sunny disposition who suggested that we should meet while I’m in town. In a city of over two million people with up to an additional million people on Church St? Yeah right we’ll meet each other. I wasn’t in the best of moods that day.
Okay, I admit, I brushed Scott off and I did think he was a bit of a creep. Did I mention not being in the best of moods that day?
Fast forward to a few weeks to that fateful last weekend in June. Hanging out with my ex, Justin, and his ex, Paul, I spot this guy at the corner – it’s the guy that I had chatted with on IRC. Despite being quite outgoing in certain situations, I do have quite the introverted and reserved side. Scott pushed the right buttons that day. We spent the whole weekend together and for six months we travelled back and forth between Toronto and Ottawa. Hats off to Air Canada for the $99 fares from Toronto Island, which kept the travel affordable.
We refused to move in together right away when I moved back to Toronto, preferring to take our time. I even proposed to Scott 9 years ago on top of Mt. Diablo in California.
16 years later, you’re finally celebrating with us. For me, today is not just our day to celebrate our coming together, but it’s our way to say thank you to all of you who have played a part in our lives.