00:00Being black is our favorite thing.
00:01That is the number one thing, right?
00:04Seriously, it is the most fun that we have.
00:06All black, everything.
00:11How do we meet?
00:12How do we meet?
00:14Part one.
00:16There's two parts.
00:17I'm starting at Noki.
00:20I'm making cocktails, I'm in the zone,
00:22and I remember when you walked in,
00:24and I'm like, oh my God, who is that?
00:28I remember you're like, give me your number.
00:31And then I hit you with, I can give you my Instagram.
00:36Your story of us meeting starts after I first met you.
00:41First time was at Mardi Gras,
00:43and you were working a bar event,
00:45and that was my very first time ever running into you.
00:48And I remember noticing you.
00:50I feel like my soul was always looking for you
00:53every time I was out in New Orleans.
00:55I remember we finally went to lunch.
00:58We were talking a lot, but then we finally went to lunch.
01:00Then the world ended, right?
01:02It did.
01:03It shut down.
01:04Like legit, like right after that.
01:06I just remember communicating a lot.
01:08I remember feeling because we were talking so much,
01:11I was able to open up and be so vulnerable
01:14with you in a way that was new for me.
01:17It went from the communication
01:19until you were just dropping dinner off at the house.
01:21I've never eaten more Mexican food
01:24before this period of my life.
01:26I met Roman first, right?
01:28I was so nervous.
01:29I was like, oh my God, what if he doesn't like me?
01:32And he was the sweetest.
01:36He was like very confused.
01:38Like, it's usually just me and my daddy.
01:40Like, but you've been here for a couple days now.
01:42I feel like he needed answers.
01:44Like early on, he, but then it stopped.
01:46Then he was like, when are you coming over?
01:48Yes.
01:49He was expecting you to be around.
01:50I said, oh, we're together together.
01:52I do remember that.
01:54I don't know how to pick one thing I'm grateful for.
01:57The first thing that comes to mind
01:59I'm grateful for in this marriage
02:01is being able to have a family.
02:04That's the first and foremost,
02:06to be able to have you and the boys.
02:10I remember trying to help you understand that,
02:12hey, you know, remember these are just kids.
02:14And like, they see you as a mother figure to them.
02:18Like, they absolutely love you
02:20because they can feel and sense love from you.
02:22And I will always tell you that, like,
02:23don't overthink it.
02:24Don't worry about it.
02:26Like, these are literally just kids.
02:28And they are so happy to have you.
02:31I just expected to be a lifelong bachelor
02:33because I've been a parent my entire life.
02:35And, you know, you're not really
02:37having women date you seriously
02:39when you were a young father
02:42because if they don't have kids,
02:43they trying to, you know,
02:45they think about their future, rightfully so.
02:47And they don't want to necessarily
02:48always take on a pre-baked family.
02:52I never felt as good about anyone else in their life
02:56as I did with you.
02:58And that was instantaneous.
03:00It was instant.
03:01It might have been the Mexican food again
03:02that you were feeding us.
03:03I was feeding y'all real good.
03:04I do remember that.
03:05It was instant.
03:06I remember the first date.
03:09And see, it was opposite for me.
03:11I knew I wasn't having any kids.
03:13So that was always a struggle
03:15while I was dating.
03:16And I remember you telling me about the boys.
03:19And I'm like, oh, that's perfect.
03:21That's so sweet.
03:22And it was my time to ask the infamous question.
03:26And I was like, do you want any more?
03:28And before I could get more, you said nope.
03:30No, I said hell no.
03:32And I was like, perfect.
03:34I'm going to be a super duper step mommy.
03:36And pre-baked is the best.
03:40I fully expect to be retired by you in the next.
03:44Ten.
03:45Give me ten.
03:46I give you ten.
03:47That's fine.
03:48So in the next five to ten years,
03:50I see us just growing our impact,
03:52raising these boys
03:53and seeing them off to be successful men
03:56that we know that they will be.
03:58And then from there,
03:59us deciding to,
04:01I have no idea.
04:03Like, your brain is all here, there, and everywhere
04:06in the best way possible.
04:09What's most important for me right now
04:10is to develop and build this family
04:12and build this relationship,
04:13which is a challenge
04:15because I care so much for this thing to work.
04:18And for this to work,
04:20I need that to work.
04:21After all that is said and done,
04:23we come back to the bar that we've built
04:25and the environment that we've created
04:27for people to enjoy.
04:28And then for me,
04:29just to play a supporting role in the background,
04:31making sure that things are out of your way
04:34and that you're not thinking about certain things
04:35so that you can practice your craft.
04:38That's really important for me
04:39to give the opportunity and space
04:41so that you can do what you do well.
04:44How does it feel to love a black man?
04:46It feels like it was one of the most important things
04:53I was meant to do.
04:55I was meant to love and protect a black man.
05:00I was meant to give all of myself to a black man.
05:05I couldn't see myself doing anything else.
05:08Like, I was here to love you.
05:10I was here to love a black man.
05:13How does it feel to love a black woman?
05:18I think it's absolutely accurate for you to feel
05:23that you were meant to or you were supposed to
05:26or like you are.
05:27This is what you're here to do.
05:28Because I think as a black man,
05:31before feeling and receiving the love of a black woman,
05:34I think the word that is most fitting is incomplete.
05:39As a black man, lacking that black woman love,
05:43I know that I had a sense of incompletion.
05:47And so that's what it feels for me to love a black woman.
05:50I feel like there is completion.
05:52For us, I think we're both seeking that spirit of completion
05:56and black is at the root of that.
06:11I feel like you told me so much.
06:14What?
06:14Right now.
06:15We talk about this all the time.
06:17Not like that.
06:18You look like this about to cry.
06:19Ooh.
06:20Don't do that.
06:22I'm about to be crying.
06:23Don't do that.
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