Saving Each Other’s Lives, Quite Literally

Mr. Gari, a local New Yorker who began writing songs at 12 and eventually rely had tallied 900, together with the handful in his 1987 Broadway musical “Late Nite Comedian,” had by no means skilled that sort of home upheaval. For 57 years, together with the extent of a quick first marriage that resulted in divorce in 1987, he has lived in the identical Higher West Aspect residence.

His mother and father, the composer Janet Cantor Gari and the actor Roberto Gari, now each deceased, moved in when he was 12. After they divorced just a few years later, Mr. Gari’s father moved 5 blocks away and his mom moved to Midtown. Mr. Gari, then 15, stayed put within the rental. “My mom mentioned, ‘You’re by yourself,” he mentioned.

He didn’t notice how proper she can be. He was getting used to being an unhappy serial monogamist when he fell in love with Ms. Cathcart after the Gamers Membership date. “I knew immediately we have been proper for one another,” he mentioned. “We had been speaking so lengthy. And he or she was so cute.”

She knew, too: “Once you’re later in your years, you’ve gotten a greater understanding of the sort of particular person you need to spend time with,” she mentioned. “Brian was every part I cherished: this lanky, simply lovely man.” Inside weeks, she had left her messy roommates in New Jersey and moved into his place. Six months later, in April 2011, he proposed whereas they have been crossing the road at 71st and Broadway.

“We have been in the midst of a dialog about how she felt misplaced,” Mr. Gari mentioned. Ms. Cathcart had been having hassle adjusting to life with out the assist of a partner.

“I felt somewhat insecure,” she mentioned. “I didn’t have any cash saved, and I didn’t have anybody to assist me.” Half a 12 months of residing collectively with none compatibility points appeared like lengthy sufficient to each to make a lifetime dedication. They have been married of their lounge on Oct. 15, 2011, by their good friend Sandra B. Wells, a Common Life Church minister.