The blond youngster stood on the edge of the wharf and felt the gentle caress of God’s breath. He closed his eyes and remembered the warmth of His embrace only one year prior, as the waters closed around him and life became little more than folly and memories.
He remembered the golden rays, far above, that showed him the way home, through the emerald depths as he gently sank further away from what he knew or could ever reach by himself.
He remembered the feeling of loss and the irresistible joy of leaving.
Slowly he opened his eyes, as the deck below his feet rose and fell with the swell of a passing wave. He stood with his feet apart, resisting the abrupt change that had threatened to topple his lithe, teenaged body into the same waters. He smiled, no longer afraid of what had happened, or what might, on the journey ahead of him. A journey that would span decades of time and take the boy to many places where love was measured by Others and portioned out to more deserving children…
He looked out across the lake and then gently tossed the tiny, rose coloured pebble that he had brought with him in his tightly clenched , tanned fingers. It hit the still waters with an almost indiscernible splash from which a series of tiny, concentric ripples emerged. The boy watched, and wondered if those ripples would ever reach the other side like he and Bobby had argued. Whether there would ever be the type of justice deserved of their faith and trust.
It hardly seems possible, but now the first ripples have reached that other shore, and finally, for Matty and others like him, God’s Grace has blessed this land. There is more to do, and more to endure, but today the blond boy smiled. Many have paid dearly, but their sacrifice will be remembered in the love and memories yet to be claimed.
Grace. Amazing grace.
Today, our President spoke the words for all of us. ALL of God’s children.
tman<3
Tony's Red Flash 
What a wonderful post, Tony. Exactly what I know y’all felt, even way back then. And today was so wonderful for all of us. God bless us, one and all. Thank you.
Peace ❤
Jay
Hi Jay,
Thanks for your comment. For me, what has happened feels just, but also incredible. I guess I was preparing myself for a partial ruling that left our rights in the hands of individual states, which would have been cowardly, in my opinion, but also the most likely scenario. When Davie texted me (the little maniac saw the decision come down moments before I did, even tho he’s all the way across the Pond!) to alert me to what had happened, I have to admit that I was momentarily speechless. It just didn’t seem possible that this Supreme Court would do the right thing.
I shared my immediate joy with him, and then, a half hour later, I went next door to prepare a meal for my parents and guess what my mom said? Lol.
“It’s just too bad it didn’t happen sooner, for some people.”
I was REALLY struck by that sentence, because she is part of a generation that has a VERY hard time wrapping their arms around LGBT issues, never mind the fact that her church (Catholic, of course) is still fomenting hate by splitting hairs over just about every gay issue.
So, YEA MOM!!!! Lol. YOU GO GIRL!! 😊
What’s happened has buoyed my spirits unlike just about anything else that has happened in the past ten years, at least. I know the war is still churning and people are being treated unjustly, but the codification of common sense that attaches to a ruling like this can not be underestimated. Americans already know that our differences are minor and now that so many people have come out, they also understand that we were never the threat that we were represented to be. So, to have the highest court in the land rule in such a clear manner, is constructive and liberating. It will be harder and harder now for the right wing bigots to spew their propaganda and hide behind phoney religious beliefs, aimed at instilling hate and divisions amongst people of good will.
Now to strike down the discriminatory laws that still exist in many states that target gay people in housing and employment! There can be no doubt that the tenor of this ruling sends a clear message that those states who allow discrimination are soon to be challenged on that front as well. Even tho I live in a ‘safe’ state, I can’t wait to see that battle joined!
Love, Tony<3
Hello Tony
A good day for humanity, and no mistake.
Love & best wishes
Sammy B
Hi Sammy!
I hope you have been well, and experiencing good health. I guess the ruling had ground-shaking effects, and was heard around the world. As it should be.
So now it is clear- what some have considered a “religious issue”, is really a civil rights issue, like it or not. I’ve always been amazed at how bigots twist the truth to get their way, but like a friend of mine from Liverpool noted in a recent email, ” the naysayers will always lose out in the end…” Those that spend their lives judging others, and burdening others with their expectations and/ or beliefs, are destined for extinction, and the ridicule they so richly deserve. I paraphrase, but that was his basic message.
I agree of course, but then he’s very analytical and studied in his approach to life, so we get along quite well. Justice is quite simple, and the absence of justice revealing. We reached a point of undeniability in this nation, once people realised we walked amongst them in greater numbers than they ever imagined. We are no longer easily stereotyped, and that’s very valuable. It’s much easier to hate someone you haven’t taken the time to understand.
Of course, there’s MUCH more to do. Complacency is the real enemy now. Rest assured, there are still plenty of insecure haters out there, so we need to be vigilant and persistent. For instance, one day after the ruling came down, I was in a restaurant and in the booth behind me, a guy started ranting (rather loudly) about how “this is such a joke… Everybody seems to need special protections!”
Yada, yada…
I resisted the urge at first… After all, he wasn’t talking to me directly, but after a few minutes, he might as well have been, given his increasingly loud rant, and his apparent feeling of righteousness. I guess he thought everyone in ear shot was on board with his nonsense. Until…
I turned around in my seat and looked directly at him. He was probably four feet away. He stuttered to a stop, and his eyes widened. And with that one look (lol), he pulled in his fangs and shut the f*ck up. Thank God, because I was getting ready to tell him to shut the… Well, you know… 😁
So, there’s a long way to go, even in a “liberal” state like mine. But given the rapid change that has swept this country with mind numbing speed, I think most of the other changes will happen fairly quickly now.
Vindication feels sweet. 😊
Love, Tony<3
Amen, Brother!
Even “RT” had to acknowledge this fact.
Although diminishing in numbers, the Others have not yet given up. Let the “BS” begin
We will prevail. Love, “FOGGY” ❤
P.S. :
Today is a magical day; for, I have just turned “69, dude”.
Hi Ray!
After replying to two other comments, I’ve kind of worn myself out and covered the salient points, so I’m trying to figure out what to write here.
Let’s see… Well, I wrote this short post in a purposely allegorical way, using memories of me and Bobby skipping stones across ponds, arguing about who won (minimum 5 skips/ closest to the other shore/ ripples that reached the other shore, etc.) and the other, usual banter that accompanied our competitions.
We didn’t construe ripples to be symbolic of change back then, but we often talked about what the future might bring, in a world that often felt threatening and outright dangerous. Bobby had more nerve than me. I suspect he would have been an activist, had he lived. I probably would have acquiesced as well, because in those circumstances, I wouldn’t have felt so alone.
I also used the rocking deck/ wharf at Lake Terramuggus, where I drowned that summer day, as a symbol of the change that we both lusted after. One of my rituals, at that age, was to immediately go to that wharf after arriving at the lake, and to stand on the end, surveying the lake, and to then close my eyes and feel the soft breezes that came off the lake. To revel in being there, because it was such a joyful and revelatory place for me. I’d stand there with my eyes closed and listen for the voices I had ‘heard’ whilst resting on the bottom, because they had been such a comfort to me. A bridge to a place where I was loved, despite my “deviant” nature. Nature… It just struck me. I should amend that to “natural state”, because that’s what it’s always been.😊
Anyways, I’d stand there with my eyes closed, listening until the shrill voices of my siblings and cousins interrupted my peaceful trance, and then I’d await the first rolling wave that came off the first motorboat that went by, towing a skier, or trolling for lake trout. In my mind, I was a soldier, or warrior, battling what life was throwing at me, resisting the physical force of that wave that seemed to be focused on throwing me into the water against my will.
It sounds a little nutty now, but at that age, I had already started building defences, knowing that my life was going to be anything but usual. Normal. I was already at war…
So, that was the basis for this post, even if you didn’t really ask😏 But you’re right! The whole thing has felt magical to me as well. Extraordinary. A moment in time I will remember forever, but for joyful reasons, unlike too many others.
69? Lol. Why, that’s magical too! Happy Birthday, Foggy! ❤️❤️❤️
Love, Tony<3
*whispers* We’re waiting for more Tony… ;D
Davie ❤
Happy Birthday tomorrow, Tony. I hope things are going ok for you. It’s been a long time since you’ve made a public posting. I miss them. I hope this next year is a good one for you.
It’s funny you mentioned my absence, because I’ve been thinking about getting back here to post more stories, both old and new, now that Mom has passed as well as three other people in my life in the past four months. The past few years have been some of the most difficult in my life, and that’s why every time I attempted to write again, events intervened. Now, I’m reeling from the losses I’ve endured, but I also feel compelled to return. There’s just one other thing to do first… Anyways, thanks for remembering, whoever you are. This year my birthday will feel different, for lack of a better word. tman<3
Hey Tony……..
It’s me!
The “Last Flyer” has died.
Long live the “Last Flyer”
I have begun anew under the new title of “American Airpicture”.
Drop me a line sometime. I miss you ❤
Foggy 🙂
Miss you too, Ray! Been a while since we chatted. Lots of water under the bridge in the meantime. Life, death and even love. I’m coming to the end of a drawn out siege in the form of a relentless work schedule and all kinds of stressful things that have befallen friends and occupied every waking moment of my life, or so it seems. I’ll have to check out your new blog to see what you’re up to. Just about everyone else has given up on me here, I’m sure, but you never know. 🤔 I still have a few stories to tell. It’s just a question of enough time and the right feeling about things. I hope you’re well and life has returned your kindness in full. We are what we sow…
Btw Ray… Do you still have the same phone number? Tony<3
YUP !!!
Same number. Different phone (iPhone 6S – Lane Bryant Edition).
Nah —— I don’t think they have given up. Just waiting patiently for a new post to appear, and they’ll be all over it like a fly on shit (bad euphemism).
Outside of a design theme, “AMERICAN AIRPICTURE” remains blank for the moment. Got the idea after going to Independence (Airport) in a town by the same name.
It’s 23 miles as the crow flies on Oregon highway 99W. A 35 minute “Ferrari Induced” drive thru spacious farmland to the only government owned (State) airport with an aviation community housing development right next to it. One can taxi one’s airplane out the garage and onto the airport – and fly. And by the looks of those houses, they’re all millionaires.
Which is something I will never become, as the business is doomed to financial failure. All that’s left is the right timing on when to file for Chapter 7 (bankruptcy), It’ll be the first (and last) one of my life. They’ll take all the stuff I own, but let me keep the stuff the bank owns – as long as I can make the payments. At least they can’t take my pensions.
But no worries. I have adopted the (strangely) positive attitude from the late great philosopher (and professional comedian) George Carlin: “Don’t Give A Shit” !!!!
Get the same reaction from that as I did from smoking – it REALLY calms the nerves. My age is probably a good catalyst for that.
Because, since I’ve been on Medicare, the medical professionals have gone down the “geriatrics list” on me. Not only do I have high blood pressure, I ………
– am MORBIDLY Obese (a simple “fat” would have sufficed)
– have Type 2 Diabetes (an A1C of 68 and holding)
– have COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
– and, last but not least ……. early stage cataracts.
Anyway, enough of this good news.
I’d LUV 2 chat sometimes. I’m off on EVERY Sunday (this, from a “retired” person), so that would be a good time to hook up.
I love you, Tony. ❤ See ya 🙂
I think that writing blogs isn’t something that you choose to do but it is something that you are compelled to do, as it fulfills a need within yourself. Like yourself I took a break from blogging in 2015 but I will return to it and so should you. You have stories and memories that you still wish to share and there are people who would dearly like to read them. You’ve promised yourself a much need break in your hectic work schedule during December. So finally, you’ll have the time, do need I say more? Typing is just as good an exercise for your wrist as that other pastime, but the end result is something that you can proudly show to people and not need to hide in the dirty linen hamper 😛
You might be right, pard, but I wouldn’t want my wrist to atrophy, so maybe I could do both, although perhaps not at the same time. 🤪 We’ll see. I will have a certain amount of free time in December, so maybe I’ll blow the dust off a few drafts, finish those stories off, or who knows? Sometimes in the middle of my work day, I suddenly remember a particular day, when I was in my formative years, wondering if I’d ever reach manhood; navigating the precipice between innocence and desire. Those are the stories I remember most fondly, and have tried to share here. Are there more? You bet. The question is whether I can do justice to them and the people involved, some of which are no longer with us. We shall see…