To Thine Own Self Be True

Today I celebrate my 10th Anniversary of coming out. It was April 17, 1997, that I filed my divorce papers, went home, and began making horribly painful telephone calls to my sister, brother, and then (in person) to my mother. As most of these stories go, it was crazy and terrible at the time. Today? I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am indebted to all of my family, friends, and my partner for helping me along and taking good care of me along the way. My message of wisdom? To thine own self be true.

I'm just home from a terrific long weekend in Philadelphia with some really cool new friends that we met on our Caribbean cruise a few months back. We spent my honey's birthday there under I&A's excellent care....complete with birthday dinner at a French restaurant that sits in an old general store alongside the road. Ooh, it was yummy. We did the quick Liberty Bell-Independence Hall-Christ Church-Betsy Ross House tour, spent the afternoon at Longwood Gardens (check out the pics), drank wine and margaritas, ate delicious home-cooked food, and -- for the finale -- spent Sunday under 5 inches of rain and woke Monday morning to snow. Roads under water, the whole works. But who cared....when you're with good friends, it really doesn't matter. They took such good care of us. We're looking forward to reciprocating sometime this summer.

Tonight I am back to work.......to ORLANDO! Fly all night, rest up a bit tomorrow morning, and then Sorted has graciously taken the afternoon off to spend with me again....all of that before we meet up for dinner with some combination of alt>Mike, Achtorschmactor, I Deal With It, and whoever else may be around. This will be my second visit with "The Orlando Brigade" in a month. And, that's not the end of it....I'm going back again next week too. I tell you, my hair is going to be in a mess from the wind blowing it in every direction. The body clock is all screwed up (these sorts of things happen easier and more frequently as we age, boys....don't forget).

I'm quite remiss in reading blogs, responding to emails, and posting. My apologies....but it's going to be a bit longer.