Booming’s “Making It Last” column profiles baby boomer couples who have been together 25 years or more. Send us your story and photos through our submission form.

Arcadio Ruiz-Castellano, 62, and Ruben Gaitan, 72, have been together for 33 years. Arcadio has worked as a dancer, soap opera actor (“All My Children,” “One Life to Live”) television journalist and is now a freelance graphic designer. Ruben is a hairdresser. They live in Manhattan. The following interview has been edited and condensed.

Q. You met in 1980.

Ruben: There was a gathering for drinks in Manhattan before going out to a club. He was like a fish out of water — spoke no English and I was the only other person in the room who knew Spanish. Arcadio was handsome, better looking than I was. A lot of men were attracted to him. He kind of gave me the eye and I was flattered. I was kind of shy.

Arcadio: It was painful for me, a time of solitude and long silences. I’d just arrived from Cuba in the Mariel boat lift. They cleared the jails, cleared the mental hospitals and all the undesirables had to leave. I was called to the police station and expelled from the country. Being homosexual was a crime. You had to hide. I had friends who were killed and the police did nothing. I know it sounds crazy, but I didn’t want to go. I was dancing at the Tropicana nightclub, going to the University of Havana. My life was there. I was a performer. Coming to the U.S., my career, my identity were gone.