For Alex Morse, 26 — Holyoke’s first openly gay mayor — Saturday, April 18 started out like many other Saturdays before it. He and his boyfriend, Edwin Cruz-Vargas, 25, went for a morning hike up Mount Tom. Once they reached the top, they paused for several minutes to take in the view. Morse turned from the sight of the Holyoke skyline to find Cruz-Vargas on one knee, offering a ring and asking him to marry him.
Morse accepted.
“We got to know each other very quickly,” says Morse. “It’s only been a year, but it feels like much longer.” The couple met through a mutual friend, photographer Rob Deza.
Cruz-Vargas had the white-gold ring, with their initials inscribed on the inside, made in Colombia. Morse says they haven’t held any formal engagement party, though they did celebrate over dinner with local friends and family and hope to throw a party soon. They could marry later this year at the earliest, but have no timeline in place yet. So far, Morse says, they know they’d like to have an outside wedding in Holyoke.
Cruz-Vargas, a chemical engineer and technologist, moved to the U.S. three years ago from Colombia. He works for Northeast Biodiesel, though he was recently hired at the Dennis Group in Springfield, and starts there in June. Cruz-Vargas was unavailable for comment.
Morse, whose professional ambition saw him rise to the rank of youngest mayor elected in the city’s history, says that having Cruz-Vargas in his life is a happy reminder that there’s more to life than working. The pair often speak Spanish at home, says Morse, adding that they moved in together last fall. The Spanish-speaking practice is great, he says, as he’s always trying to improve. About 48 percent of the city’s population is “Hispanic or Latino,” according to U.S. Census data, so Morse has a considerable Spanish-speaking constituency.
Morse says he’s also been spoiled by his fiance’s cooking abilities.
“He can whip up a complex meal in a few minutes — I just don’t understand,” Morse says.
Morse says it didn’t take long to realize this relationship was built to last.
“I could tell right away there was something special about Edwin,” says Morse. “We have a lot in common. We want the same things out of life — we want the best for ourselves and for our families. We connected and clicked pretty quickly. We support each other and meet in the middle.”
Morse hasn’t met much of his fiance’s family, as they live in Colombia, though he hopes to meet them all this summer. He says his own family is supportive of their partnership. “They’re happy I found someone who makes me happy.”
With gay marriage before the Supreme Court, Mayor Morse’s engagement to Cruz-Vargas — along with the outpouring of support in its wake — stands as a beacon of hope that maybe America is finally ready to legalize gay marriage on a federal level.
“We’re obviously thankful for those who came before us and fought for this,” Morse says.•
Contact Amanda Drane at adrane@valleyadvocate.com
