As they gear up for his or her first marriage ceremony anniversary subsequent month, Scott and Mark Hoying are embarking on a brand new artistic endeavor that they hope will each strengthen their union and increase the morale of children of all ages who really feel like they don’t slot in.
Final month, the couple unveiled their debut kids’s guide, “How Lucky Am I?” It’s a heartwarming story a couple of mayfly because it wings its manner towards self-fulfillment and acceptance in a quick ― however extraordinary ― life.
Scott, recognized globally as a member of the Grammy-winning a cappella group Pentatonix, mentioned he and his now-husband dreamt up “How Lucky Am I?” whereas cooking dinner at their Los Angeles residence towards the latter half of 2019. As Scott started retrieving components, he caught sight of a fly that wound up making its manner into the freezer.
True to type, Scott mentioned, Mark opened the freezer door to set the fly free. It was then the pair realized that the insect’s near-death expertise might be seen as a poignant metaphor about residing life within the second and with out regrets. The 2 males additionally felt it will give them an opportunity to share parts of their very own love story, which started in 2017.
“We thought: If a mayfly can live for just 24 hours, what would it want to do in its lifetime? The whole purpose of a mayfly’s existence is to find their mate, to carry on their lineage,” mentioned Mark, a musician and mannequin who initially hails from Seattle. “We wanted the story to parallel our own life experiences ― about us falling in love, getting married and wanting to start a family.”
Scott felt equally, and included among the couple’s July 2023 marriage ceremony vows ― during which they pledged to “adventure side by side” and “talk for hours, laugh and cry” ― into the guide, which options colourful illustrations by artist Steph Lew.
Steph Lew/Henry Holt & Firm
“We wanted a little piece of our wedding day to live on, so we can tell our future kids their dads’ vows are in the book,” Scott mentioned.
“How Lucky Am I?” will not be the Hoyings’ first artistic collaboration. The pair have teamed up within the recording studio collectively a number of occasions, together with on “Thank You,” an unique monitor off of Pentatonix’s 2020 vacation album, “We Need a Little Christmas.” To make sure that their guide felt musical, the boys carry out in duet on an accompanying single, additionally titled “How Lucky Am I?”
In fact, the Hoyings are aware of the truth that “How Lucky Am I?” is being launched at a time when many LGBTQ+ writers are beneath fireplace, and when conservatives have gotten many queer-themed books banned. By no means as soon as, nonetheless, did they contemplate diluting the guide’s all-inclusive message, or obscuring the truth that it was written by a homosexual couple.
“We want to incorporate queer elements into everything that we do,” Scott mentioned. “When you’re a kid who feels different and there are no stories in mainstream media about who you are, you start to think: ‘Is my story worth being told? Do I belong?’ Which is so heartbreaking to us.”
Jon Kopaloff by way of Getty Photographs
Scott and Mark have been vocal about their hope of getting kids, and to that finish, “How Lucky Am I?” is devoted to their “sweet little mayfly on the way.” Whereas the method of discovering a surrogate has taken longer than they anticipated, the pair say they’re now “so close” to turning into first-time dads.
As for the values they hope to instill of their future offspring, Mark says that gratitude is paramount.
“We want to encourage our kids to celebrate life with the people who mean the most to them, and to cherish the relationships they cultivate along the way,” he mentioned. “Love is at the center of everything, so being grateful for the people in your life is important.”
