Pride 2012 - have a rainbow weekend!

I attended my first Pride parade in 1980, shortly after graduating from college and shortly after my friend Ryan came out. We were scared, excited, curious, nervous. We lived in the City and our little group of friends met downtown and went into the parade holding hands like schoolchildren. We were there to support our best friend and we were there for ourselves.

I am praying for Ryan today, and for Wat, and for so many others who were with us in 1980 and are not with us today. And I am asking them to pray for us.

It was a year or two later, mid-eighties, when my mother, who was the co-owner of  The Patio Shop in Santa Cruz, commented that she found it interesting that attractive younger men were buying her out of the rainbow flags, windsocks and duffel bags that she sold at her store. I was so smart, I knew the answer. Mom liked being on the inside and for several years thereafter, couldn't keep rainbows in stock. Mom, I'm praying for you today, please pray for me.

I took this picture this spring at Yosemite at Bridalveil Falls. There is always a rainbow visible at that water, and I loved the bright jackets of the people who seemed to become the rainbow.  Today, I tried (not very well) to create the picture in my mind, which is the life and light that LGBTQ people bring to my life. Amidst the brambles and tangles,and the black and white sometimes,  the rainbow shows through. Happy Pride!