Easter 2000. I had been seeing Patrick for just over two months. We decided to have his sister Diana and her family over for Easter dinner. We would cool coq au vin. Why nor? Patrick doesn't eat ham, and it's not on the top of my list. Instead, coq au vin. How gay.

Diana's husband Jim is allergic to dogs. Her children are scared of dogs. Patrick has a dog. A big, black dog. Her name is Cashia. (That's Polish for "Katharine," a name far too regal for Patrick's 65-pound eternal puppy.) My own first encounter with Cashia left me wondering if I had been mistaken in wanting a dog. She greets you with the unrelenting enthusiasm of a drunk Viking's fan, a found lost child, and a reunited lover combined. It's a lot to take even if you like dogs. And Diana's family didn't. I feared the worst.

After dinner, Patrick and I took Emily, his eldest niece, for a walk with Cashia. Having Cashia tethered to her leash seemed to render her less frightening in Emily's eyes. We walked to Powerhorn Park. Emily and I played tag on the playground. Cashia sniffed for discarded potato chips and candy. Patrick watched and smiled. I snapped a picture of them. I didn't know it then, but it was the last picture I would take as someone just dating Patrick. Cooking coq au vin, protecting the kids from Cashia, playing in the park, and being with Patrick in our first holiday: it was process of transformation. The next day I would say, "I love you."

Most weekends now, Patrick and Cashia join me and my own crazy dog Angus for a walk through Powerhorn Park together. In the early morning, we let the dogs off the leash. Angus chases squirrels; Cashia sniffs as much acreage as possible. We often encounter Carl, a longtime neighborhood resident, and talk small talk: the weather, the plan to drain the lake, those dogs of ours. We see Shirtless Yoga Guy, a man who exercises serenely on the same hilltop every week until the weather drops below freezing. We hold hands, briefly, when the mood strikes us, a signal to each other that the park is ours. Just like it had been that day before love.