Oh God!
Today, Daughter #1 and I continued our celebration of Gay Pride by going to the street festival. Hundreds of people milling around, enjoying the music, the food, each other...what a great day. The weather couldn't have been better either. It was relatively cool, the sun appeared through the cloud occasionally.
My daughter and I wandered throughout the festival. We saw cocker spaniel adoption centers, gay hikers, gay swimmers, gay video stores, gay hikers, gay-friendly churches, gay square dancers, gay singers and gay male porn stars....what a diverse commnity.
And there, in a line for cold drinks, there he stood!
I couldn't believe my eyes.
I grabbed #1's hand....and said....
"Do you see that young blond man in the green shirt in line there?"
"Yeah, what about him?"
"That's Matt! My architect! The one I've been writing about this week It's him!"
Number 1 looked at me and shook her head.
"Go over and say hello."
"I - I - I can't!"
#1 got annoyed.
"Dad. Get a grip. You're gay! You're at the Gay Pride Fesitval for goodness sake. He's here too. What does that say about him?"
"You've gotta go over with me...I can't go by myself."
"Oh, all right," #1 retorted. "Go!"
So, I timidly made my way through the crowd and tapped him on his shoulder...
"Hi Matt! How are you?
I sounded so confident...so matter-of-factly....
He turned around
There it was...
That smile. I swear I heard the angels singing again. My heart felt like it was gtoing to leap from my chest.
He laughed heartily.....shook my hand and said, "Welll well.....how are you?"
"I'm fine."
"I assume, that this is the prime reason for your divorce?" he said smiling still.
He remembered what I had told him!
'Yeah, I guess it was... So are you having a good time?"
"Aw...yeah....but it doesn't seem to be as good as last year."
"I'm having a grand time. Oh...and this is my daughter, #1."
#1, who was wearing her button that proudly proclained, "I"m Proud of My Gay Dad," smiled pleasantly and said, "It's very nice to meet you."
I was tongue tied....and flustered....and I stammered.
I can't believe that I get like this.
"It was great seeing you," I finally said.
He grinned...gave me a hearty handshake and said, "It was good seeing you too. Have fun."
I gently squeezed his left bicep and smiled broadly.
"Take care....and Happy Pride."
"You too," he said.
And with that, we all were swallowed up in the swirling masses of diversity -- going our separate ways.
Whew! What a great day!
7 comments:
You are going to have to ask for a date now. It's the only way to end what I believe is going to be a trilogy--boy sees boy, boy sees boy at a pride celebration, boy has grilled chicken salad and wine with boy!!!!
No way! #1's a smart lady! Funny how things turn out. (Not like you both didn't "know" already!)
Of course if he was interested in you, he remembered EVERYTHING you ever said, so I'm not surprised.
Now that you know both of you are "family" you could have at least gone for the "gay-reassurance-I-accept-you hug!"
Next time for sure! It's a must. Walk up/call out his name and open up your arms. :)
Had I hugged him...or he hugged me, I would have melted into a puddle then and there..and would have been unable to ever write in this blog again! LOL
We all need a good melting into a buddle now and then. It reminds us that we are alive and not just a disembodied brain. Go for it.
Wow - what a happy blog post to read for a change!!
Even though you were pushed into saying "hello." Make a point to give him a call. Soon.
The ice is broken. Become friends!
(I give your daughter credit for forcing you to do someting you know you wanted to do anyway.)
Yeah, what Rick and Paul say! This is how I'd take it personally:
The more you draw it out, you're just sending the signal you've (kindly) rejected me. It's like a game, if you just keep on like this, it just becomes a sign of non-interest and you're just trying to be nice to me now.(Although, well maybe that's what you want anyways? You do have Zack!)
If you called me, (and told me about Zack etc.,) it would still make me feel you liked me and make me feel less rejected. I'd know we could still be friends too.
Not sure if that's what you want, but think about it.
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