June 13

The crazed senior citizen pictured here in the wicked cool typing gloves is Boyfriend's mother -- my mother-out-law, as I'm fond of saying. Today is her birthday, so we hied it to Connecticut to celebrate with the family. She's looking pretty good for a woman turning 64.

I often like to tell the story about her trying to kill me the first time she met me -- not true, precisely, but it makes for an amusing anecdote nonetheless. His parents have always been kind and gracious to me, welcoming me into the family with open arms. It's scary -- especially to Boyfriend -- how well his mother and I get along. For me, it's a heartening experience, one that makes me glad right down to my very soul.

Plus, she'll pose for me even when I ask her to do something like make a scary face. You have to love a woman like that.

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April 19

I missed my grandmother's birthday.

It wasn't on purpose, however. She didn't receive her card, though, so I put together a new card for her. Most people would send just the card, but when your grandson's a photographer, you don't get off that easy. I had a year or so of catch-up to do, so she's got a couple of dozen photos in her card.

She'll be especially glad to see my shorter hair -- she's been going on about my looking "like a hippie," since I began growing my hair out a couple of years ago. My friend Brandon took a great photo of me yesterday, so I added it to her card to round out the package.

The card may be late, but the new haircut just might make it worth waiting for. :-)

109/365 -

March 03

I'm fortunate to have very thoughtful friends. Out of the blue, I got this card from my dear friend and confidante Ruth today.

Ruth and I have a very close and special relationship (as I described a little here), so getting this card was a pleasant little surprise. It's a sweet little card, with a short message inside. It's certainly nothing extraordinary, but seeing this in the mail was the high point of my day.

I'm going to visit Ruth and her family in May, when she graduates from college. She'll be sharing the stage with her father, who's getting his degree from the same institution, and her cousin Walt, who's graduating from Seminary. To be invited to the graduation is a privilege, and to be invited to the family party afterward is quite an honor.

Many gay people refer to one another as "family," and it's something of an axiom that gay people have the families they're born with, and the families they choose (meaning their closest friends). Ruth's family, while a little unusual, forms a kind of surrogate family for me, and I'm closer to Ruth than I am to many members of my biological family.

I consider myself fortunate to have such wonderful and thoughtful friends. However, "fortunate" doesn't begin to describe my feelings about being close to Ruth. It's more than good fortune ... I'm lucky to have her in my life.

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