MEET Gary & Shay Duncan

We met through a calendar! I was a freshman, and my RA had a centerfold calendar full of campus hotties on her wall. One look at my birth month, and I knew I had to meet Mr. July. At the time, I didn’t know his name, only that everyone called him “Scratch” (he was a campus DJ). From that moment on, I made sure if a campus party advertised Scratch as the DJ, my friends and I had to attend! Little did I know, Gary was asking about me as well. I worked part-time in the library. My co-worker was trying to encourage me to share my phone number with his friend, Gary. I didn’t know anyone named Gary, and I was NOT interested in meeting him. If only I knew the “Scratch” I pursued was the “Gary” that was pursuing me. It wasn’t until my junior year did I learn that Scratch and Gary were the same person. Once our paths aligned, we have been together ever since.

Shay: Gary and I have a vibe. I can’t put it into words, I can’t describe it, we just work. He is quiet, reserved, and laid back. I am bold, outgoing, and edgy. Are we opposites? Not quite–but we complement each other like matching bookends. He is the only man that still gives me butterflies in my stomach when he walks into a room. There was an amalgamation of little moments that let me know he was my soulmate-the way he reaches out to always hold my hand; the way he looks for me when we are on opposite sides of a room; the way he lives by example. He is a GOD FIRST type of man. Gary: From the first time I saw Shay walking across the yard and from the day we actually met, I felt a deep sense of connection to her. It grew after that through a combination of factors such as shared values, common interest, and a strong emotional bond. I wanted a sense of comfort and security in envisioning a future together, and 32 years later, we still have that “thing”!

Watching the season finale of “A Different World” together on the couch, Gary turned to me during the commercial and asked if I knew he loved him. I didn’t notice he had moved for sitting on the floor to the proverbial “one knee” when he asked me this. He went on to tell me how much he loved me, how he wanted to spend his future with me and then he “popped the question.” There was no fanfare, no big production–just the two of us–and that was absolutely perfect for me!

There is no choice. We are both NCAT Aggies–and true Aggies do not miss THE GREATEST HOMECOMING ON EARTH. In addition to both of us being proud alumni of NCA&T, Gary is also a brand ambassador for Still Moon Corn Whiskey for which he is the co-founder/owner. Still Moon is the official drink of North Carolina A&T State University.