i remember when i first saw portia – i came across her in a magazine, probably US Weekly or something, back when it was legit and wasn’t a tabloid rag. she was strikingly, maddeningly beautiful in a bighearted, effortlessly sweet and joyful way … like a little girl grinning after daddy’s just given her a big fat hug and kiss.

she wasn’t around much on tv/movies, but eventually i saw her in a couple shows and she seemed all harsh angles and incomplete … a little off, kind of stern, not particularly warm. i found it odd, entirely counter to the blazing memory i had of her, blonde hair rippling, with a big old smile. she seemed “incorrect,” not herself. i recognized she was playing a role, but it still felt not right.

i read a rumor that she was gay but there weren’t many details, the comment was in passing in an article online or somewhere.

then i forgot about her. ellen came along, totally likeable. the anne heche thing happened. i remember being happy for ellen when she found anne heche, and being confused at anne cuz the history said she was straight, and then suddenly fell for ellen. it seemed fantastical, and i thought, well that’s awesome if the love was so strong it took anne off the track she had in mind for herself.

and then anne did the 180 and walked back out of ellen’s life and i was so disppointed for her, so disappointed in anne. i had the sneaking suspicion anne left a perfectly good woman and relationship because of her career – the idea that her career had nose dived since she’d gotten with ellen, or that perhaps her getting with ellen had been an exciting new thing that revitalized her in the press and then one day she woke up and realized it wasn’t real, and turned tail.

regardless, ellen was left standing there in the mud. undeserved. i always found her genuine, real, likeable. i knew she worked hard. i knew she was smart and kind and a good person. she deserved better.

and then one day portia came along – and they were a couple. the minute i heard it, i knew it was right.  and all the pictures confirmed it. the grin on portia’s face was the same one I saw years ago when i was in college, in the late 90s. big, alive, bursting with happiness. genuine, unbridled joy.

and i knew that ellen put that light in her eyes and that grin on her face and she was a little girl again. and ellen looked right standing next to her, and portia looked right standing next to ellen.

sometimes, the universe puts a kitten next to a puppy, a dandelion spread in a field of grass, a sparkle of sunlight across rippling water, a peal of laughter in a room full of love.

i’m so happy for these two that they’re together, that they found each other, that they’ve lasted, that they got to legally marry in this state. i hope it lasts forever, i hope they stand by each other, i wish them the very best, and know that ellen is going to be the best mommy-daddy, and portia is going to be the best mommy ever. i hope they have kids soon. that’s gonna be a house filled with some serious light.

congratulations, PE!