Recently, I came across an old VHS tape with nothing more than “Lee & Bob Dancing” written on the label. Having no idea what it contained, I took it to Video Tape International to have it converted into a digital format so I could watch it on my computer.

What I discovered was a gift from the past.

This is one of several practice videos of Bob and me preparing for the 1998 Gay Games in Amsterdam. It would have been recorded around April 1998. We had just eight months to learn the five Latin dances we would compete in—a daunting challenge, but one we embraced with everything we had.

If you compare this rehearsal to our actual competition performance, you’ll notice how much the routine evolved. Early in the dance, I perform a développé, Bob takes my foot, and I move into a backbend. By the time we reached Amsterdam, that same movement had become far more dramatic. My foot extended over Bob’s head while my own head came within inches of the floor.

These practice tapes became one of our greatest training tools. We studied every detail, corrected every mistake, and refined every movement. The work paid off. We returned home with two gold medals.

Watching these videos now is a strange experience. That chapter of my life sometimes feels less like a memory and more like a book I once read. Yet the emotions return the moment the music begins.

This was also a time when much of our community still lived in the shadows. Most people outside our circle knew very little about this part of our lives. While Bob and I were in Amsterdam, after winning our first gold medal, I checked my email and found a message my brother Brad had sent to the entire family. He told them he had been following the competition and that I was doing very well. I had no idea he was watching. The surprise and emotion I felt reading that email remain just as vivid today as they were in that moment.

Then there was another unforgettable memory. Actress Judith Light was attending the Latin dance competition. As Bob and I were leaving for lunch, she came up behind me, gently grabbed my arm, and said, “I have never seen anything like that. You two are amazing.” It was one of those unexpected moments that stays with you forever.

There are countless memories wrapped up in this one journey, but these are two that immediately came to mind as I watched this tape.

I simply had to share this video. This dance is the Rumba.

And finally, my heartfelt thanks to Greg and Keith for taking the time to record these practices. Without realizing it, they preserved a piece of our history that nearly three decades later allows me to relive one of the most extraordinary chapters of my life.