I came out 12 years ago and moved about an hour and a half from my children, Dad and the rest of my family. It was to move in with a new partner and it got me "away" from the town I thought would never embrace me again. I thought that space would give me the anonymity as well as give them time to forget that i was, in fact, gay. LOL What WAS I thinking?
12 years later, I still plan dinners with friends in my home town and meet folks at Wal Mart and restaurants I haven't seen in years. I still have every other week visits with my son and I go check in on my Dad and stop by the nursing home to see my stepmom when I'm there. Its like nothing has changed except that I'm about to marry a man and very few care or even notice any more.
This past weekend my brother, his wife and children came and spent the weekend with me and my partner. They drove over, we went to the mall, had dinner, went home and watched movies, picked at each other, laughed, compared stories from our youth and in general were just chilling out. Sunday morning they had to get up and go home since my sister in law had to work. For most folks, it would be just another family evening. Many wouldn't have put a second thought into the time together. For me, it was heaven!
I said that 12 years ago I came out and moved away. I've been home many times and , of course, my children come see me, but NO one else in my family have been to see me here. For me, this weekend was about renewing in my soul my brother and sister in laws acceptance and love. It was about having my niece and nephew visit MY world to interact with me there. Its not as if my house is OZ and the rest of the world is Kansas..lol. It just meant something to me. I really felt great with them coming to see me. My family is my world. My children and my Dad/ Brother and his family are my reasons to exist. I felt validated. Simple pleasures are sometimes great, sort of like coffee. lol.
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