Unbreakable bonds: To the nth degrees, they’re a perfect Ram match

By Amelia Heymann

It was 2004 when Joel Gill, an undergraduate English major at Virginia Commonwealth University, logged onto Match.com. One profile caught his eye despite lacking a photo – and Gill admits this might have been the only time he clicked on a profile solely because of the bio.  

“We started talking and it turns out he didn’t need a photo – he’s cute,” Gill said.

Jonathan Moore was a graduate biology student and teaching assistant at VCU. He and Gill spoke by phone and through AOL Instant Messenger for weeks before deciding to meet at a Starbucks in Willow Lawn near where Gill worked. 

The two began seeing each other regularly, even sneaking a kiss in the stairwell before Moore’s graduation. Two weeks later, the two became exclusive, getting married on the same day 10 years later.

Gill and Moore have long supported each other in their studies and their work – and have seven VCU degrees between them. Gill, a junior when they met, assisted Moore with graduate research for the Department of Biology, which ultimately helped Gill land a job at what is now the Biobehavioral Research Laboratory at the School of Nursing. When the center asked Gill if he had experience drawing blood, he answered yes – just from birds instead of humans. 

“I think part of the reason I got the job was because they were like, ‘[If] you can get a stick on a chickadee, you could probably get [one on] a person,’” Gill said with a laugh. 

Moore served as a VCU biology professor for several years, during which time Gill went back to school for nursing. The two have memories of working side by side in Moore’s office, and Gill doing homework in the back of Moore’s classroom while he taught. Gill ultimately earned his doctorate in nurse anesthesia practice.

Today, Gill is a certified nurse anesthetist with VCU Health, and Moore is a behavioral health counselor in the Richmond area. The couple said one key to their enduring, 21-year relationship so far is constant communication.

“You have to be able to communicate clearly and make sure not only that you’re being clear, but that your partner is hearing and understanding what you’re saying and or intending to say,” Moore said.

Gill added that couple’s therapy is a powerful resource to ensure that partners communicate effectively and truly hear each other. 

“If your roof was leaking, you wouldn’t just go up there and like start duct-taping it. You’d call a roofer – someone that’s worked on roofs before,” he said. “Thinking of therapy that way kind of takes the stigma out of it.”

VCU’s resonance in the couple’s journey is reflected in numerous ways, and Moore even bought Gill an engraved brick outside Shafer Court Dining Center. Moore also noted how VCU is where he came out in 2001, and despite that era’s challenges of navigating the process, no one at VCU batted an eye. 

“That truly was special and a very supportive kind of [environment],” Moore said.