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A few years a go I was preparing to go to my high school reunion, with both excitement and dread. I went to school in a small southern town, the kind of place people stay to raise their kids and be close to their families. Think Mayberry. My excitement was for seeing a handful of friends with whom I shared wonderful memories growing up. We don't stay in touch like we should, but the years always melt away when we have the chance to visit again. The dread - some of you probably know this feeling - comes from answering the myriad questions about why I never married. Did I mention this was a small southern town? My closest friends know I am happily partnered, but I never felt the desire to come out to the rest of my high school classmates. Until that year. I just decided to answer honestly. "Did you ever get married." "No, but I have a partner. She and I live in California." Predictably, a few looked at me as if I'd just parachuted in from Jupiter, but most smiled and even asked socially appropriate follow-up questions. And some went so far as to say they thought it was ridiculous we couldn't get married. It surprised me. My parents still live in that town, and I visit them frequently. I used to feel suffocated there, but I don't anymore.
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