meaning making
I wrote this story five days after my beloved partner of 23 years took his last breath. Erin was 57 and wanted to die at home, with his comforts and the loving presence of our 165-pound Great Dane, Osiris. We managed to pull off the death experience we planned, with the assistance of our death doula and… Continue reading Kaua’i Kayak Redemption
My favorite hours this past weekend was at a fundraiser and birthday celebration in San Francisco to honor a legendary LGBTQ+ activist and beloved community elder. 🎉 The venue was the Hibernia, a historic bank repurposed into an event space. Cleve Jones took the stage after the crowd sang happy birthday to him. He’s 70… Continue reading The Shield
We said goodbye to Huckleberry Finn yesterday. I had thought that us having 3 dogs would keep me from being overly attached to one individual. I was wrong. Last night in bed, I made room for Huck where he usually sleeps beside me. Only now, the space is empty. It took awhile before I got… Continue reading About Huck…
And did you get whatyou wanted from this life, even so?I did.And what did you want?To call myself beloved, to feel myselfbeloved on the earth. ~ “Late Fragment” by Raymond Carver This scene from "Secret Invasion" introduce me to this poem. https://youtube.com/watch?v=QRw0xz_rlvk&si=3OQzz-lH4PuV-60s
This week, I received a DM from a friend sharing this pic. That’s me getting a haircut, when four of us gay men shared an apartment close to Florida State University campus in late 1980s Tallahassee, Florida. Jeff, in the picture, worked as a hairdresser. So we all received the family discount (i.e., free) on… Continue reading A Zonian Coming Out Story
Tallahassee is in the Deep South. The largest employer in town is the State government which headquarters in a phallic Capitol complex. The city is also home to Florida State University and Florida A&M. In the late 1980s, the town held about 100,000 people, half of them being university students. Set in rural Leon County… Continue reading Club Park Avenue Trip Report: A Cocktail with the Cosmos
“The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be.Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us --there is a tingling in the spine,a catch in the voice,a faint sensation, as if a distant memory,of falling from a height.We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.”~ Carl Sagan, Cosmos Phantom Galaxy, M74,… Continue reading Phantom Galaxy, M74
Erin and I are staying all week in Casco Viejo, Panamá’s 500+ years old, UNESCO World Heritage Site at the heart of the country. The district serves as an entertainment and culinary hotspot with chefs from around the globe vying to make a name for themselves. We celebrated my sister’s birthday last night. This was… Continue reading At the Crossroads of the World: Scenes from a World Heritage Site
My first Pride event. The year was 1988 or 89. I was an undergrad at Florida State University in Tallahassee. My boyfriend and I drove my clunky Toyota Starlet to Atlanta for pride weekend celebrations. We stayed with a friend near Piedmont Park and met up with a lesbian couple (Vicky and Wendy) we were… Continue reading Thirty+ Years Ago, What I Remember from my First Pride
On my visit to Panamá last year, I got video of Mom hanging out with me while I ate lunch at the house. In this clip, Mom shows me her burping technique when I was a baby. She explains how she wanted to have more children, at least one more, but the doctor warned about… Continue reading A Mother’s Love